Unannounced Alder Lake chip already in stores: Peruvian retailer sells US$181 Core i5-12400F with Laminar RM1 cooler, weeks ahead of official announcement

According to Xanxogaming, the as-yet-unannounced Intel Core i5-12400F is already up for sale in Peru. Xanxogaming was apparently able to purchase a boxed unit of the Core i5-12400F. The outlet shared pictures of the CPU and promised to share early benchmarks. Of note is the fact that the Core i5-12400F comes bundled with Intel's rumored Laminar RM1 CPU cooler. The RM1 is Intel's first major overhaul to its stock cooler since the Sandy Bridge era. Xanxogaming shared a photo of the Laminar RM1, giving us a closer look at the updated design.

The Peruvian outlet reported that the Core i5-12400F was selling for 899 Peruvian sols after a 10 percent VAT. This means that the midrange Alder Lake chip's pre-tax pricing is below US$200, and well below the US$299 launch price of the Ryzen 5 5600X. 

Leaked benchmarks indicated that the Core i5-12400F was a formidable opponent to Ryzen 5000, destroying the Ryzen 5 5600X in gaming benchmarks, and even keeping pace with Intel's previous-gen flagship Core i7-11700K. At a roughly US$200 price point, the Core i5-12400F offers remarkable value, though you'd need to pair it with a cheaper B660 motherboard and DDR4 RAM to maximize the price-performance proposition. 

With retailers seemingly already having their hands on i5-12400F, it's only a matter of time before Intel makes an official announcement about the Alder Lake price-performance champ.

Check out the Core i7-12700K here on Amazon.