Intel 10th Gen Comet Lake Desktop CPUs Selling Ahead of Release on Chinese Website

While we're still waiting for Intel to officially release its 10th Generation Comet Lake desktop CPUs, a seller on Chinese retailer Taobao has already put countless trays of the 14nm chips up for sale. 

The listing, first sniffed out by hardware leaker @momomo_us and reported on by VideoCardz, features clues about the chips' origins in the processors' sSpec (sample-specification) number. The "Q" indicates that the chips are Qualification Samples (QS), the kind that Intel sends to OEMs, ODMs and ISVs so they can design their own devices. While it's common for one of two of these chips to escape and make their way to online marketplaces early, it's quite shocking that a Taobao seller managed to get its hands on tons of these QS chips.

The Taobao listing mentions five upcoming Comet Lake desktop processors. The Core i5-10400, Core i5-10500 and Core i5-10600K are rumored six-core, 12-thread processors. The first two conform to a 65W TDP (thermal design power), while the i5-10600K is rated for 95W.

The seller is also apparently selling the i9-10900 and i9-10900K. Both chips seemingly feature 10 cores and 20 threads. A previous leak shows the i9-10900K with base and boost clock speeds of up to 3.7 GHz and 5.1 GHz, respectively. The i9-10900K is said to hit up to 5.3 GHz with Intel's Thermal Velocity Boost (TVB) technology. It's been said that the i9-10900K will likely draw over 300W of power if pushed to its limits. 

Chinese news outlet XFastest reportedly has an i9-10900 sample already (it's unknown if Intel provided XFastest with the chip or if the publication purchased it). Interestingly, the processor has 2.5 GHz written on it, despite a prior leaked benchmark identifying the i9-10900 with a 2.8 GHz base clock and 4.9 GHz boost clock.

The i9-10900 would be a very interesting option for consumers if the high TDP claims about the K-model prove accurate. The i9-10900's TDP is rumored to be down to 65W, which would explain the low clock speeds. For comparison, its predecessor, the i9-9900, has a 3.1 GHz base clock and 5 GHz boost clock. Intel is expected to be squeezing two additional cores into the i9-10900, which would lead the chipmaker to compromise on clock speeds a bit.

The last rumored launch date for the Comet Lake desktop chips is mid-April. But with the sudden wave of leaks, perhaps Intel's new chips are closer than expected.