The password is also used for other parts of Intel, such as Premier Support and the Intel Registration Center. Yes, the requirements are strict.
Personally, I recommend a good password manager (I use LastPass) that will generate a different and strong password for each site you use. You then don't need to remember multiple passwords and if your password "leaks" at one site, your other logins are not exposed. All my site passwords are long and with random combinations of letters, digits and punctuation (where allowed). I don't need to remember any of them.
