Intel To Continue Focus On Raptor Lake CPUs & Hybrid DDR5/DDR4 Motherboards As PC Building Costs Rise

Intel has said that it will continue to focus on Raptor Lake CPUs, as it is a core part of its PC strategy, as the costs to build a PC continue to rise.

Intel Raptor Lake isn't Going Anywhere, Becomes Integral Focus For Blue Team in the current DRAM & Component Crisis

Intel launched its Raptor Lake CPU family in 2022, which was followed by a refresh in 2023. The 13th and 14th Gen CPUs held a very strong position in multithreading performance and even gaming, but were hit by major issues related to voltage fluctuations. Intel and its partners spent months trying to mitigate and fix the issue, which was ultimately sorted out, but left a bad taste for the family in the Desktop PC segment.

Now in 2026, Intel is saying that Raptor Lake is a "big part of our strategy". As per the VP and GM of Enthusiast Channel at Intel, Robert Hallock says that Raptor Lake is "an extremely fast product and is not going away any time soon". The statement was offered to Club386, and it isn't surprising given the current PC market situation.

“Raptor Lake is a big part of our strategy – I want to be very clear about that,” says Hallock. “It’s still really, really good, even with multiple generations of hardware from other vendors coming after it, so it’s not going anywhere. I want people to understand that Raptor Lake will continue to be abundantly available.”

Robert Hallock - Intel (via Club386)

As you know, Intel launched Core Ultra 200S "Arrow Lake" CPUs in 2024 which weren't a big success in terms of gaming performance. The more recent Core Ultra 200S Plus "Arrow Lake Refresh" CPUs do look much better in terms of their competitive positioning, but have seen a price hike too recently. With that, most users are still relying on older 12th, 13th, and 14th Gen CPUs, as they are available in good supply & are also backed by motherboards that come at much lower price points.

The LGA 1700 motherboards also come with DDR4 support, which is a crucial decision for PC gamers as the cost of memory has climbed rapidly, and continues to do so. As such, budget & mainstream builders find Raptor Lake combos as an overall better value rather than getting onto a platform that will only last them a single generation of CPUs. Intel is working towards better socket longevity in its upcoming LGA 1954 socket, but that won't arrive till later this year.

What Intel is working on is more hybrid DDR5 and DDR4 options, such as the ASRock H610 COMBO II series, which packs both DDR5 and DDR4 slots, letting users select the choice of memory they want to go with.

“You’ve also seen some new motherboard announcements that support both DDR4 and 5 on Raptor Lake, as kind of like a bridge between worlds for people,” says Hallock. “That is reflective of our overall confidence and expectations.”

Robert Hallock - Intel (via Club386)

Personally, I believe that focusing on older SKUs is a good decision as the PC makers are focusing more on mid-range and enthusiast markets, leaving budget and entry-level PC builders with nowhere to go. It looks like we will see more OEM options with Intel Raptor Lake CPUs and hybrid memory slots in the next few months, until the hardware market stabilizes, which isn't happening anytime soon.

The bigger question is whether Intel will stick with existing CPUs or offer new parts for the older socket. Intel has released Bartlett Lake with up to 12 P-Cores, but those aren't officially compatible with consumer-oriented motherboards, requiring mods to work on LGA 1700 motherboards.

Meanwhile, AMD continues to offer new CPUs for its AM4 socket, which has seen multiple generations. This is, unfortunately, Intel's biggest mistake, which they aim to amend with their next socket.

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