High-end Intel CPUs getting more expensive in EU due to strong dollar

German tech site PC Games Hardware noticed the strong US dollar is having an impact on the processor market. While pricing of video cards, motherboards, power supplies or even AMD processors remained relatively the same, pricing of Intel processors shot up noticeable in the past three to four months.

The prices hikes are primarily felt in the high-end and server segments, the site notes the price evolution of Intel's Core i5, i7 and Xeon processors follows the USD/EUR currency exchange rate very closely. The Core i7-4790K went up from 280EUR to 300EUR, the i5-4690K's price increased from 190EUR to 210EUR and the Xeon E3-1231 v3 went from 195EUR to 220EUR.

The price evolution of the younger Haswell-E series is subject to greater fluctuations and PC Games Hardware notes that Intel's lower-end models, including the Core i3, Pentium, Celeron and Atom processors are only weakly affected by the strong dollar. Presumably, Intel or the retail channel keeps the pricing of the lower-end models stable because these segments are more price-sensitive.