It's time to bid farewell to some of Intel's iconic CPUs as the chipmaker discontinues the Core i9-12900KS & the entire 10th-gen lineup.
Intel Discontinues Core i9-12900KS, The World's First 5.8 GHz CPU, & The Entirety of Its 14nm Comet Lake "10th Gen" Chips
Intel has just announced the discontinuation of one of the highest-end SKUs in the 12th gen Alder Lake lineup, the Core i9-12900KS. This was a surprise because the processor is around two years old, which isn't much time but given that this was a "Special Edition" release with a limited supply and release schedule, it was kind of expected. The CPU was the first to hit the 5.8 GHz clock speed mark but was outpaced by its "KS" successors with the 13900KS achieving a 6.0 GHz clock speed & the latest 14900KS achieving a 6.2 GHz clock speed.
Intel has yet to discontinue its 12th-gen CPUs but it looks like we are looking at the start of things as the 13th and 14th-gen CPUs have mostly replaced them. Still, many gamers find 12th Gen CPUs to offer better value given their sweet discounted prices with plenty of performance, still.
Intel's newest PCN reveals that the firm won't fulfill new orders of the Core i9-12900KS by January 2025, and the CPU will be officially discontinued by July 2025, so there's still a year, but the demise is near.
Apart from that, Intel's 10th Gen Comet Lake CPU family has also reached their end of life, after serving the markets for almost four years. Comet Lake is still popular among professional places, where consumers opt to get a better price rather than focus on performance, but it looks like Team Blue has decided to move on. You can find the Product Change Notification announcing the EOL of the chips here.
The discontinuation process includes several models, including client CPUs such as the Non-K variants, Pentium Gold, and Celeron variants. On the professional side, the Xeon W-1250 is also seeing its last moments in the markets. For existing consumers on the platform, Intel plans to provide warranty and other services through domestic distribution channels, and defective processors will be dealt with by the respective integrator in case of a pre-built system.
Intel's Comet Lake's EOL will not affect market supply whatsoever since the Korean research outlet, Danawa, believes that the 10th-generation market share in the local markets is less than 1%, which means that discontinuation won't have much effect. Anyway, the 14nm era has ended, and it will now be a remnant of Intel's past where it tried its best to secure core count leadership against a charged AMD who knocked them out whenever the blue team tried pushing itself.
News Sources: Videocardz , ZDNet Korea , @harukaze5719
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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