Troubled Chipzilla didn't even bother with a proper launch. Instead, news of the six-core, 12-thread processor leaked out thanks to Momomo_us on X. A deep dive into Intel's own product database confirms the Core Ultra 120 is a Raptor Lake CPU in name only. Under the hood, it's all E-cores removed and just P-cores left behind.

That would be fine if the price matched the performance, but it doesn't. The chip features six performance cores with a 4.5 GHz boost, 18 MB of L3 cache, and a 65 W base power draw. It's a config that mirrors AMD's Ryzen 5 9600X on paper but lacks the Zen 5 architecture and anything resembling value.

In fact, the Core Ultra 120 isn’t even real Raptor Lake. The L2 cache gives the game away. With only 7.5 MB total (1.25 MB per core), it's the same spec as the older Core i5 12400. True Raptor Lake silicon would have doubled that.

At $246.01 for the Ultra 120 and $216.66 for the iGPU-less 120F, Chipzilla is asking punters to cough up three times what AMD wants for a Ryzen 5 5500. Even the 12400, which is near identical to the new part, can be had for $144. At that point, you'd have to be thick as mince to go for the new branding.

PC Gamer's Nick Evanson said: "There's a snowball's chance in hell that I'd recommend anyone to buy one at these prices. Hopefully, those distributor prices are just placeholders and not the final price tags, because if they are, Intel isn't going to shift a single one of them."

If Intel wanted to give gamers something budget-friendly and new, this isn’t it. Instead, we’re left with Regurgitated Raptor Lake and a price tag that only makes sense if were dropped on your head when you were a baby.