Why are Intel mobile CPUs more expensive than desktop CPUs?

[Fjodor2001]

I noticed that the price of the mobile Intel CPUs is far higher than for the desktop CPUs.

Some examples of Haswell CPUs:

Desktop CPUs:
Core i7-4770K (4C/8T, 3.5/3.9 GHz, HD4600): $339
Core i5-4670K (4C/4T, 3.4/3.8 GHz, HD4600): $242
Core i5-4430 (4C/4T, 3.0/3.2 GHz, HD4600): $182

Mobile CPUs:
Core i7-4900MQ (4C/8T, 2.8/3.8 GHz, HD4600): $568
Core i7-4650U (2C/4T, 1.7/3.3 GHz, HD5000): $454
Core i7-4500U (2C/4T, 1.8/3.0 GHz, HD4400): $398

Is there any reason why the mobile CPUs are so much more expensive? Do they for example have lower yield in production? Is Intel just charging more for them "just because they can" due to less competition in the mobile segment? Or is there some other explanation?

 

[Kallogan]

Yes but u can buy on ebay some ES mobile quads i7 (sometimes even oem) for cheap that beat desktop i5 thx to hyperthreading.

 

[ShintaiDK]

ES samples are illegal and stolen property. So please dont tell people they can buy it.

The key to the price is in the TDP that you miss in your list.

84W vs 47W for example.

 

[frozentundra123456]

I would think they must be binned higher than the desktop chips. Also there is really no competition at all in mobile if you want top end cpu performance, since there is no FX line for mobile.

 

[sm625]

They are doing to force buyers into the android/apple/ARM market. They do it because they are stupid. Because they see QoQ and YoY earnings as more important than 5 year or 10 year earnings. And that is why their stock is up 0% over the last 14 years.

 

[ShintaiDK]

They are doing to force buyers into the android/apple/ARM market. They do it because they are stupid. Because they see QoQ and YoY earnings as more important than 5 year or 10 year earnings. And that is why their stock is up 0% over the last 14 years.

I assume nVidia and AMD is doing the same then. Both with CPUs and GPUs.
Hell, even ARM makers.

Or perhaps its just the binning...

 

[Fjodor2001]

The key to the price is in the TDP that you miss in your list.

The TDP is of course lower on mobile CPUs because the CPU frequency is lower too.

But what aspect of the TDP do you mean makes the mobile CPUs more expensive? Do you mean that Intel simply can charge more because there is less competition in the low TDP mobile segment? Or are they more expensive because the yield is lower since many of the produced mobile CPUs will not meet the desired TDP? Or something else?

Also note that on desktop CPUs they actually charge less for the lower TDP versions (i.e. the S and T versions). See e.g. the price for the low TDP versions of the 4770K:

Core i7-4770K (4C/8T, 3.5/3.9 GHz, HD4600, 84W TDP): $339
Core i7-4770S (4C/8T, 3.1/3.9 GHz, HD4600, 65W TDP): $303
Core i7-4770T (4C/8T, 2.5/3.7 GHz, HD4600, 45W TDP): $303
Core i7-4765T (4C/8T, 2.0/3.0 GHz, HD4600, 35W TDP): $303

 

[ShintaiDK]

The TDP is of course lower on mobile CPUs because the CPU frequency is lower too.

But what aspect of the TDP do you mean makes the mobile CPUs more expensive? Do you mean that Intel simply can charge more because there is less competition in the low TDP mobile segment? Or are they more expensive because the yield is lower since many of the produced mobile CPUs will not meet the desired TDP? Or something else?

Also note that on desktop CPUs they actually charge less for the lower TDP versions (i.e. the S and T versions). See e.g. the price for the low TDP versions of the 4770K:

Core i7-4770K (4C/8T, 3.5/3.9 GHz, HD4600, 84W TDP): $339
Core i7-4770S (4C/8T, 3.1/3.9 GHz, HD4600, 65W TDP): $303
Core i7-4770T (4C/8T, 2.5/3.7 GHz, HD4600, 45W TDP): $303
Core i7-4765T (4C/8T, 2.0/3.0 GHz, HD4600, 35W TDP): $303

Did you miss the base clock? Anything above baseclock is not garanteed.

 

[Enigmoid]

I noticed that the price of the mobile Intel CPUs is far higher than for the desktop CPUs.

Some examples of Haswell CPUs:

Desktop CPUs:
Core i7-4770K (4C/8T, 3.5/3.9 GHz, HD4600): $339
Core i5-4670K (4C/4T, 3.4/3.8 GHz, HD4600): $242
Core i5-4430 (4C/4T, 3.0/3.2 GHz, HD4600): $182

Mobile CPUs:
Core i7-4900MQ (4C/8T, 2.8/3.8 GHz, HD4600): $568
Core i7-4650U (2C/4T, 1.7/3.3 GHz, HD5000): $454
Core i7-4500U (2C/4T, 1.8/3.0 GHz, HD4400): $398

Is there any reason why the mobile CPUs are so much more expensive? Do they for example have lower yield in production? Is Intel just charging more for them "just because they can" due to less competition in the mobile segment? Or is there some other explanation?

You are forgetting that your mobile cpus there essentially include the LGA 2011 platform on the desktop.

On mobile for sandy bridge there really wasn't anything higher than 2630/2670 (clock bump) that was used in OEM non-custom systems. For ivy bridge it was 3610/3630qm in prebuilts.

Likewise expect almost every single i7 quad haswell notebook to be using the i7-4700MQ for which the price is OEM listed. I expect the price to be around $250.

Also mobile chips are higher binned to get lower power consumption and are substantially more efficiency than desktop.

 

[Fjodor2001]

Did you miss the base clock? Anything above baseclock is not garanteed.

No, I did not miss the base clock. And what you're saying is true for the Mobile CPUs too:

Core i7-4900MQ (4C/8T, 2.8/3.8 GHz, HD4600): $568
Core i7-4650U (2C/4T, 1.7/3.3 GHz, HD5000): $454
Core i7-4500U (2C/4T, 1.8/3.0 GHz, HD4400): $398

But what was your point with regards to the base clock anyway?

Also, you never answered the question in my previous comment on what aspect of the TDP should make the mobile CPUs more expensive.

 

[ShintaiDK]

No, I did not miss the base clock. And what you're saying is true for the Mobile CPUs too:

Core i7-4900MQ (4C/8T, 2.8/3.8 GHz, HD4600): $568
Core i7-4650U (2C/4T, 1.7/3.3 GHz, HD5000): $454
Core i7-4500U (2C/4T, 1.8/3.0 GHz, HD4400): $398

But what was your point with regards to the base clock anyway?

Also, you never answered the question in my previous comment on what aspect of the TDP should make the mobile CPUs more expensive.

So you compare a 45W 2.5Ghz with a mobile 2.8Ghz 47W and ask why the mobile cost more?

The other 2 are 15W products and contain the chipset on package as well.

If you dont understand it. Then a all CPUs should cost the same by your logic.

Better binning, higher price. Thats how it rolls.

 

[Fjodor2001]

Likewise expect almost every single i7 quad haswell notebook to be using the i7-4700MQ for which the price is OEM listed. I expect the price to be around $250.

I only know the tray price of the i7-4700MQ according to the Intel website and it's:

Core i7-4700MQ (4C/8T, 2.4/3.4GHz, HD4600, 47W TDP): $383

Also mobile chips are higher binned to get lower power consumption and are substantially more efficiency than desktop.

Well, these seem pretty close spec-wise:

Mobile:
Core i7-4900MQ (4C/8T, 2.8/3.8GHz, HD4600, 47W TDP): $568
Desktop:
Core i7-4770T (4C/8T, 2.5/3.7 GHz, HD4600, 45W TDP): $303

The difference is that the Desktop version has 300 MHz lower base clock, 100 MHz lower turbo clock, and 2W lower TDP. But it only costs about half as much as the Mobile CPU!

 

[ShintaiDK]

I only know the tray price of the i7-4700MQ according to the Intel website and it's:

Core i7-4700MQ (4C/8T, 2.4/3.4GHz, HD4600, 47W TDP): $383



Well, these seem pretty close spec-wise:

Mobile:
Core i7-4900MQ (4C/8T, 2.8/3.8GHz, HD4600, 47W TDP): $568
Desktop:
Core i7-4770T (4C/8T, 2.5/3.7 GHz, HD4600, 45W TDP): $303

The difference is that the Desktop version has 300 MHz lower base clock, 100 MHz lower turbo clock, and 2W lower TDP. But it only costs about half as much as the Mobile CPU!

The 4770K just got 2MB cache, HT and 100Mhz, yet it cost 50% more.

Same goes for 3930 vs 3970 etc.

Or why is a ferrari more than 3x more expensive than a fiat 500?

 

[Fjodor2001]

So you compare a 45W 2.5Ghz with a mobile 2.8Ghz 47W and ask why the mobile cost more?

I don't question that it costs more. I'm questioning why it costs MUCH more. Almost twice as much for only 300 MHz higher base clock, and 100 MHz higher turbo clock (and in addition a 2W higher TDP penalty on the downside).

 

[Fjodor2001]

The 4770K just got 2MB cache, HT and 100Mhz, yet it cost 50% more.

You're comparing the 4770K to what?

 

[ShintaiDK]

I don't question that it costs more. I'm questioning why it costs MUCH more. Almost twice as much for only 300 MHz higher base clock, and 100 MHz higher turbo clock (and in addition a 2W higher TDP penalty on the downside).

Because its on the edge of whats doable in mass production.

You're comparing the 4770K to what?

4670K obviously.

Just look at the E3-1285 v3. 333$ extra for the last 100mhz.

 

[Enigmoid]

I only know the tray price of the i7-4700MQ according to the Intel website and it's:

Core i7-4700MQ (4C/8T, 2.4/3.4GHz, HD4600, 47W TDP): $383



Well, these seem pretty close spec-wise:

Mobile:
Core i7-4900MQ (4C/8T, 2.8/3.8GHz, HD4600, 47W TDP): $568
Desktop:
Core i7-4770T (4C/8T, 2.5/3.7 GHz, HD4600, 45W TDP): $303

The difference is that the Desktop version has 300 MHz lower base clock, 100 MHz lower turbo clock, and 2W lower TDP. But it only costs about half as much as the Mobile CPU!

The i7-4800MQ is $378 so your pricing is wrong.

 

[zephyrprime]

It's basic economics. Laptops have a higher selling price than desktops so price discrimination means that they can charge more in that space in the absence of much competition. Also, the mobile parts are higher bins. That's what allows them to run at lower power levels.

 

[Fjodor2001]

4670K obviously.

Obviously not obvious. There are quite a few models to choose from you know! Also, HT adds quite a lot of performance in multi threaded scenarios (much more than the additional 100 MHz), so I don't think the price increase of 40% (not 50% as you wrote) is as strange in that case.

 

[Fjodor2001]

The i7-4800MQ is $378 so your pricing is wrong.

Note that I specified the price of the i7-4700MQ, not the i7-4800MQ. Follow the links and you'll see that the price I quoted for the i7-4700MQ is correct at $383. And anyway, it's just $5 difference!
http://ark.intel.com/products/75128/Intel-Core-i7-4800MQ-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_70-GHz

 

[Enigmoid]

Note that I specified the price of the i7-4700MQ, not the i7-4800MQ. Follow the links and you'll see that the price I quoted for the i7-4700MQ is correct at $383. And anyway, it's just $5 difference!
http://ark.intel.com/products/75128/Intel-Core-i7-4800MQ-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_70-GHz

Something is wrong if its more expensive than the 4800mq.

 

[sushiwarrior]

The 4770K just got 2MB cache, HT and 100Mhz, yet it cost 50% more.

Same goes for 3930 vs 3970 etc.

Or why is a ferrari more than 3x more expensive than a fiat 500?

The guy is asking an honest question, no need to get all cynical about it.

And if the chipset is included on-die with the mobile versions, that still begs the question why it costs $200+ more, that's far more than the price of a motherboard (which has the chipset on it, plus faaaaar more other stuff).

 

[Concillian]

Basic economics.... supply and demand.

There is more demand than supply for excellent performance CPUs that also have low power consumption.

There is less demand for the same on desktop. When there was high desktop demand, we saw the high clock Pentium IIIs going for $500+ when virtually the same silicon was being sold as Celerons for ~$100.

Don't try to read anything else into it. They charge so much for the mobile versions because they can and people will pay it. They try to charge $500 for the desktop chips, people won't pay it, people will buy i3s or Celerons or go AMD. It's all marketing BS.