Intel is officially discontinuing it’s top-tier Alder Lake Core i9-12900KS desktop CPU. The CPU once held the title of being the chipmaker’s fastest and most powerful processor when it launched, housing 16 cores comprising eight P-Cores and eight E-Cores, and a maximum boost clockspeed of 5.5GHz on two cores.
However, the 12900KS and its power was overshadowed with the arrival of the Intel 13th Gen series, otherwise known as Raptor Lake, with the Core i9-13900KS not just offering more cores but also higher boost clocks of 6GHz. Not only that, but the i7-13700K also offered nearly identical specs and clockspeeds.
Intel started the discontinuation process today, with distributors and retailers expected to stop fulfilling any new orders for the CPU around January 2025 and by July 2025, the CPU will be discontinued. In addition, the chipmaker is also discontinuing the entire 10th Gen Comet Lake Series of CPUs, which includes a list of 30 SKUs, ranging from entry-level Pentium and Celeron models to the Core i5 lineup. The top-tier i9-10900K had been discontinued prior.
Funnily enough, Intel actually discontinued its 11th Gen lineup last year, with the last CPU shipping out early this year.
10th Gen budget Intel CPU EOLhttps://t.co/KDGhcsDaZh
— 포시포시 (@harukaze5719) July 4, 2024
The discontinuation is significant as it effectively marks the end of the 14nm era, a die lithography and process node Intel had been using since the advent of the Skylake architecture nearly a decade ago.
(Source: ZDNET, Videocardz, Intel)
