[News] Intel Won’t Discontinue Raptor Lake DDR4 Models, Supports Lower-Memory Configurations Amid Shortages

Intel says it is taking steps to address ongoing memory supply constraints. According to Tom’s Hardware, when asked how the company is responding to constrained memory supply, Nish Neelalojanan, senior director of product management for Intel’s Client Computing Group, cited Raptor Lake and Wildcat Lake as products that may address current shortages. He added that Intel will continue supporting products based on older memory technologies for as long as there is a practical need.

Neelalojanan emphasized that Intel continues to offer DDR4-supporting products across both desktop and mobile platforms. Raptor Lake remains part of that lineup, and Intel has no plans to discontinue it, the report said. According to Notebookcheck, DDR4 continues to offer a cost advantage: a 32GB kit consisting of two 16GB modules currently sells for about US$199, versus US$449 for DDR5.

The strategy reflects broader market dynamics. As Neelalojanan noted, memory costs are now outweighing CPU prices as a factor in overall system pricing. He added that Intel is working with a range of local memory suppliers and validating their products.

Intel is also validating lower-memory configurations for Wildcat Lake. The platform starts with 8GB of memory and uses a single-channel memory architecture, enabling systems to operate with lower memory capacity while still delivering reasonable performance.

Still, Intel did not indicate any plans to revive older products, according to the report. For now, the company appears focused on extending the life of DDR4-compatible platforms rather than bringing back discontinued processors.

That emphasis on affordability reflects a broader industry trend. According to Tom’s Hardware, entry-level PCs were a key theme at COMPUTEX, with Intel’s Wildcat Lake and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon C chips targeting the budget laptop segment.

Meanwhile, according to GSMArena, AMD’s COMPUTEX 2026 lineup included a revived CPU, a scaled-down processor variant, and a previously launched graphics card. One of those products is the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, AMD’s first CPU with 3D V-Cache technology. Discontinued in 2024 after a two-year run, the processor is being brought back because its AM4 platform continues to support DDR4 memory.

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(Photo credit: Intel)