Intel is usually pretty good about making new processors available in quantities to satisfy demand, but for the time being, that does not seem to be the case with Coffee Lake, at least for some of the higher end SKUs. For example, its flagship Coffee Lake chip, Core i7-8700K, is sold out pretty much across the board.
We are sure there are vendors out there selling limited stock at a price hike, but in our glance around the web, the Core i7-8700K is currently MIA. Newegg does not have an stock available, and neither does the Amazon. Over at B&H Photo, you can preorder the top-end Coffee Lake part, but there is no indication of when it will ship other than it's "coming soon."
You may have better luck at your local Micro Center store, though that will depend on the location. Legit Reviews says it sent one of its writers to the St. Louis Micro Center store only to be told that it doesn't have any Core i7-8700K chips to sell. They did have a Core i5-8600K, which is also hard to find, but only one unit was in stock. The store also had some Core i5-8400 models.
"The prices of the four models that they have for sale are just slightly inflated," Legit Reviews said. Micro Center is known for usually having the lowest processor prices around, when purchased in-store.
For a short while, OverclockersUK had available Core i7-8700K processors that it personally binned based on the ability to reach or exceed 5GHz. It was selling chips that could hit 5GHz for £500, 5.1GHz for £600, and 5.2GHz for £800. Those are all now sold out. The non-binned SKU is listed at £360 and is available to preorder.
The Core i7-8700K is a smoking fast 6-core/12-thread processor that is superb for gaming, among other tasks. It will undoubtedly be a popular option, once it becomes widely available. We suspect that will happen soon, but for now, it is a waiting game.
