You can grab the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (16C/32T) for just $520, save $280

AMD has lowered the price of its higher-end Zen 3-based Ryzen 5000 series desktop CPUs, with the flagship Ryzen 9 5950X processor discounted by $280... from $800 down to $520.

The deals quickly hit a few retailers, with big ones like Amazon dropping their prices, but then it looks like AMD has lowered the MSRP for distributors and big retailers. Why? Intel's new 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" CPUs are kick-ass, and selling well, and AMD has no real answer -- apart from the stop-gap Ryzen 7 5800X3D -- until Zen 4 later year.

For now, we get to enjoy some huge discounts on the Ryzen 9 5950X (16C/32T), Ryzen 9 5900X (12C/24T) and Ryzen 7 5800X (8C/16T) processors. The Ryzen 9 5950X was $800, now $520 -- a discount of a huge $280. The Ryzen 9 5900X was $550, with $180 discount it's now available for $370 while the Ryzen 7 5800X was $450 with $130 off, down to $320.

• Read more: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (Zen 3) CPU Review
• Read more: AMD's new Ryzen 9 5950X: 16-core/32-thread at nearly 5GHz for $799
• Read more: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X hits insane 6.35GHz on ALL 16 cores with LN2 cooling