Major Retail Discounts Slash AMD and Intel Server CPUs by Up to 50% Amid Market Competition and Excess Supply

High-performance server CPUs from AMD and Intel are being sold at steep discounts across U.S. retail channels, with some models marked down by as much as 50% below their official recommended prices. Despite no public announcements from either company about price cuts, retailers like ShopBLT and Newegg are offering the latest EPYC 9005-series and Xeon 6 Performance-series processors at significantly reduced rates. For example, the top-tier AMD EPYC 9965, a 192-core processor officially priced at $14,813 for bulk orders of 1,000 units, is available for $9,713 on ShopBLT—about a 35% discount. Similarly, the 160-core EPYC 9845, listed at $13,564, is being sold for $8,896, a 35% reduction. Even the 72-core EPYC 9565 is offered at $5,728, a 45% drop from its direct customer price. Previous-generation EPYC 9004-series CPUs are also being sold well below their recommended pricing. Intel’s Xeon 6 lineup is seeing even steeper markdowns. The flagship 128-core Xeon 6980P, with a recommended customer price (RCP) of $12,460, is available for $5,166—over 50% off. The 96-core Xeon 6972P is listed at $4,789, down from $10,220, and the 72-core Xeon 6960P is priced at $4,511, a 53% discount from its RCP. Even the older Xeon 8592+, a 64-core processor, is being sold for just $2,280—five times less than its official list price. These price drops are puzzling because AMD and Intel have not announced any formal reductions. The official 1kU prices from AMD and RCPs from Intel are typically used as benchmarks for large-scale buyers like cloud providers and OEMs, who often negotiate lower rates through volume contracts. Retail pricing, however, is usually closer to list prices, making these deep discounts unusual. Two possible explanations are emerging. First, intense competition between AMD and Intel in the data center market may be driving aggressive pricing. AMD’s high-core-count EPYC 9005-series has pressured Intel to lower prices on its Xeon 6 lineup, while Intel’s performance gains have prompted AMD to maintain competitive pricing to prevent customer loss. Second, a temporary oversupply of CPUs could be pushing distributors to clear excess inventory through retail channels. With both companies ramping up production to capture market share amid strong demand from AI and cloud infrastructure expansion, some retailers may be discounting heavily to move stock quickly. While such discounts are rare in the server CPU market, they highlight the dynamic nature of supply and demand in the high-performance computing sector. The situation remains unexplained by AMD or Intel, and further details are expected as the market adjusts.