Intel's new Core i9-12900K on Chinese black market, costs $700

If you know how to access the black market in China, then you can get yourself Intel's unreleased, next-gen flagship Core i9-12900K "Alder Lake" CPU.

5

The new Core i9-12900K can be purchased on the black market in China for around $700, with the chips being sold on the Taobao second-hand market. The processors in question are ES2 or second-generation engineering samples. These processors aren't meant to be sold and are sent out for qualification testing months ahead of launch.

Intel's Core i9-12900K ES2 processor isn't a final chip and any performance numbers you see from them should be taken with a grain of salt. There can be hardware-level bugs, lowered performance numbers, and more. The new 600-series chipset is also required, with a new motherboard also required -- oh and a new cooler.

5

5

We should expect Intel to launch its new Alder Lake CPUs during its Innovation event on October 28, with pre-orders going live on that day, and then the CPUs and 600-series motherboards launching on November 4. You can expect CPU and motherboards here from us at TweakTown, and I'll explore the GPU side of things with a new Core i9-12900K testbed and running all of my GPUs through it (and Windows 11, too).

5