Intel CPU mystery unfolds as 6GHz flagship skips CES and suddenly goes on sale

Intel Core i9-13900K in hand
(Image credit: Future)

Intel’s Core i9-13900KS didn’t appear at CES 2023, but rather mysteriously the supercharged Raptor Lake flagship has popped up at a European retailer (briefly) and has also been spotted in China (before being swiftly pulled down in this case, too).

VideoCardz reports that the Core i9-13900KS was seen at a Chinese retailer, JD (as highlighted by @wxnod on Twitter), and before it was taken down, an enterprising soul managed to capture the spec listing and official pictures of the box (which look genuine enough – but still, we need to be careful around the authenticity of any leak).

The packaging appears to be the same as the existing flagship processor, the 13900K, using a silver wafer case – which is as expected – with the only change being the addition of ‘Special Edition’ to the box. (As the 13900KS is basically a limited edition of the 13900K which consists of higher quality silicon that can be clocked faster – with a boost speed of 6GHz right out of the box in this case).

The specs also show the base TDP (power usage) of the 13900KS to be 150W, as previously rumored (it’ll use a lot more power than this when boosting with the pedal to the metal, though, naturally).

The Core i9-13900KS was also sighted at LDLC, a French retailer, priced at €950, but that listing has again been yanked down. For comparative pricing, the 13900K costs €770 at LDLC, meaning the KS model is €180 or 23% more expensive than the base version of the flagship.

While this could be placeholder pricing from LDLC, in theory, it would mean that in the US, the 13900KS could retail at just over $700, which is about in line with what happened with Alder Lake and the 12900KS – so that perhaps lends a little more credibility to this leak.

Whatever the case, a Special Edition processor is obviously never going to be cheap, and don’t forget, Intel likely has price hikes inbound for Raptor Lake (as they’re already coming for Alder Lake).


Analysis: The case of the missing 13900KS

Going by previous chatter on the grapevine (add your own skepticism, again), the Core i9-13900KS is supposed to debut on January 12, which is why we expected to see the turbocharged Raptor Lake flagship appear at CES 2023, a week in advance of that – because it was known that Intel was set to reveal a bunch of new 13th-gen processors at the show. Now, Team Blue did indeed unveil new Raptor Lake chips, but the 13900KS wasn’t one of them.

So this omission caused some scratching of heads, and the affair gets even more mysterious with these separate appearances of the Core i9-13900KS at retailers. Granted, the product listings were swiftly removed in both cases as noted, but this seems to suggest the usual case of retailers jumping the gun a bit, and that the refreshed Raptor Lake flagship will still go on sale if not next week, then sometime very soon.

Although that makes it seem rather odd that Intel didn’t want to show off the 13900KS at CES, doesn’t it? Unless Team Blue is planning a very low-key launch and just a simple announcement for the processor. That could be the case, though we’d imagine Intel would want to make something of a fuss over the first chip to hit 6GHz out of the box – so maybe the release date of the 13900KS has slipped, and these retailers are way off the mark with their listings.

We’ll learn the truth soon enough, but remember that Intel has already promised that this chip will arrive early in 2023, and there was certainly a wide expectation that this meant January.

TOPICS

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).

Read more
A mockup of the Intel Core Ultra 200HX die against a blue swoosh background
Intel announces new Core Ultra 200 series mobile CPUs at CES 2025, targeting enthusiasts and edge users
An AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D on a desk
AMD's Ryzen 7 9800X3D is almost impossible to find right now, but these alternative CPU picks might be a better bet
AMD Ryzen 5 2500X
AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X3D CPU could be on sale soon – but I’m still worried about the price
Intel Lunar Lake concept
Intel's Panther Lake processors won't arrive until Q1 2026 - corroborates previous delay rumors despite former Intel CEO's promise of 2025 launch
Render of AMD Ryzen chip
AMD’s powerful Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D CPUs rumored to arrive on March 12 – but gamers will still be better off with the 9800X3D
AMD
One Redditor spotted an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D for $99 in the wildest price drop I've ever seen
Latest in CPU
AMD Ryzen AI
New leak suggests AMD's working on an Arm-based processor to rival Qualcomm's Snapdragon X series
AMD Ryzen 9950X3D chip next to its packaging on a pink table
Asus' AI Cache Boost promises to "pump up" your AMD Ryzen 9000 processor's AI performance
An AMD Ryzen processor slotted into a motherboard
Future AMD-powered gaming handhelds and notebooks could miss out on a key feature – and it might be a deal breaker for gamers
John Loeffler holding the Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Great news! The best gaming CPU ever made is finally available for its original launch price again
The Ryzen AI Max+ 395 could power the latest generation of powerful mini PCs
The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 dominates as the "most powerful" APU on the market, but its competition is questionable
Intel Lunar Lake concept
Intel's Panther Lake processors won't arrive until Q1 2026 - corroborates previous delay rumors despite former Intel CEO's promise of 2025 launch
Latest in News
DeepSeek
Deepseek’s new AI is smarter, faster, cheaper, and a real rival to OpenAI's models
Open AI
OpenAI unveiled image generation for 4o – here's everything you need to know about the ChatGPT upgrade
Apple WWDC 2025 announced
Apple just announced WWDC 2025 starts on June 9, and we'll all be watching the opening event
Hornet swings their weapon in mid air
Hollow Knight: Silksong gets new Steam metadata changes, convincing everyone and their mother that the game is finally releasing this year
OpenAI logo
OpenAI just launched a free ChatGPT bible that will help you master the AI chatbot and Sora
An aerial view of an Instavolt Superhub for charging electric vehicles
Forget gas stations – EV charging Superhubs are using solar power to solve the most annoying thing about electric motoring