There probably won't be much mystery, if at all, regarding the specifications for Intel's upcoming Core i9-14900KS. It's not an official part, mind you, but multiple
retail leaks are collectively a pretty strong indication that the hyper-binned slice of 14th Gen silicon is coming. And the latest retail cameo once again shines a spotlight on the chip's blistering 6.2GHz top clock speed.
For context, the 14th Gen Core i9-14900K as part of Intel's
Raptor Lake Refresh is a 24-core/32-thread processor consisting of 8 P-cores clocked at 3.2GHz to 6GHz (via Thermal Velocity Boost), 16 E-cores clocked at 2.4GHZ to 4.4GHz, 36MB of L3 cache, and a 125W base TDP (253W max).
In the past, KS models were essentially the same as their K equivalents, but with higher clocks on tap courtesy of silicon maturity and, importantly, special binning to identify the cream of the crop. That will undoubtedly be the case again whenever Intel gets around to launching the
Core i9-14900KS.
While not official, the chip has been making the rounds in various leaks. More recently, X/Twitter user @momomo_us discovered a product page at DirectDial, a retailer in Canada. According to the retail listing (partially shown above), the Core i9-14900KS has a manufacturing part labeled as BX8071514900KS. More interesting, however, is seeming confirmation that the special edition chip will have a top clock speed of 6.2GHz.
The listing also reveals several other specifications, including a 3.2GHz base clock, 32MB of L2 cache, 26MB of L3 cache, integrated UHD Graphics 770, a 150W TDP, and a few other odds and ends.
Save for the 6.2GHz clock speed, the only other specification that differs from the 14900K is a higher TDP at 150W. So what that means is that the specially-binned part has been validated for a modestly higher TDP to run stable at a 200MHz higher max turbo frequency. Naturally, that will require adequate cooling—you're not going to hit 6.2GHz on an wimpy cooler.
Assuming the leaked specs are right on the money, it's a tamer upgrade compared to past special edition SKUs. For example, the
Core i9-13900KS also bumped up the P-core and E-core base clocks by 200MHz each, whereas they remain the same on the Core i9-14900KS versus the Core i9-14900K.
As for pricing, the Canadian retailer has it
listed for $1,005 CAD (around $741 in USD). It also lists the Core i9-14900K at $890 CAD (~$656 USD), which equates to the 14900KS being around 12.9% higher. Note that you can find the Core i9-14900K in the US for
$544.49 at Amazon (on sale from $649.99).