Intel Core i9-12900K (ES) Reportedly on Sale in China for $700 USD

Intel’s next-gen Alder Lake processors are at least one month away from launch, but the chips are already available in Chinese grey markets. These SKUs appear to be Engineering Samples priced at rather reasonable figures. The Core i9-12900K which is a sixteen core part faster than the present Ryzen flagship (5950X) is going for 4,500 CNY. That’s roughly $700. The latter is presently priced between $700-750, so we’re probably looking at retail prices here.

It’s hard to say whether these chips are legit, but the socket size and IHS certainly look like the one used by Alder Lake. In the past, there have been scams where the IHS of higher-end SKUs was slapped atop a budget part (such as the Celeron or Pentium parts) and then sold at a premium. However, the distinct shape of the above chips (matching the LGA1700 socket) means that we’re likely looking at a 12th Gen part, though not necessarily the 12900K.

Source: YuuKi_AnS