Intel and AMD tease big CPU announcements for CES

Ahead of their press conferences at this year’s truncated and part-virtual CES, AMD and Intel are teasing big CPU announcements for the show. AMD’s “product premiere” is due to take place at 10am ET today, while Intel has a “digital-first live experience” scheduled for slightly later at 1pm ET.

Intel’s CES tease is focused on one key spec, 5.5GHz, which is expected to be the maximum boost clock speed its upcoming CPU will be able to reach. That’s a 300MHz improvement over the company’s current flagship, the Core i9-12900K, which was announced late last year and can reach a top boost clock speed of 5.2GHz. VideoCardz reports that the new processor could be called the Core i9-12900KS, and may release in late Q1 2022.

Meanwhile, AMD CEO Lisa Su hasn’t revealed much in the way of specifics in her own CES tease. But the company is widely expected to announce its next generation of Ryzen CPUs at this year’s show. AMD typically uses CES to launch its laptop-focused processors: it announced the Ryzen 5000 mobile lineup at CES 2021, and Ryzen 4000 CPUs at CES 2020. Improvements expected this year include the use of 3D V-Cache for a 15 percent performance uplift.

Despite the imminent announcements, it’s less clear how long it’ll be until you’ll easily be able to buy the new CPUs thanks to the ongoing global chip shortage. Intel’s CEO has warned that supply could be tight until 2023, while TSMC, which manufactures chips for AMD, has previously said shortages could continue into this year.