Someone’s trying to flog Arrow Lake-S mechanical samples in China
$1,360 buys you 6 Arrow Lake mechanical samples
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Intel Arrow Lake mechanical samples appear on Chinese retailer Taobao, you’ll have to pay $1,360 if you want all 6.
Intel Arrow Lake is presumably right around the corner, but that doesn’t stop people from trying to sell mechanical samples early. Someone has posted 6 Arrow Lake-S mechanical samples on Taobao, a Chinese marketplace, and is asking for $1,360 (converted) for the full set.
It should be painfully obvious that these will not function the same as the official release versions of the CPUs, but they could be a cool collector’s item.
Arrow Lake mechanical samples for sale on a Chinese marketplace
Hardware detective @harukaze5719 discovered this Taobao listing and posted it on X apparently some of Intel’s early LGA 1851 have been lifted from the lab, and put up for sale. Tom’s Hardware reports that the CPUs have different power limits, says the seller, though we couldn’t find such information on the listing, maybe someone over there spoke to the seller personally.
This does indicate that these CPUs are functional, however, there’s no way that they would function as well or as reliably as the release versions of the Arrow Lake CPUs. So think again if you think this listing is a cheap way to snag some Arrow Lake CPUs early. It’d be a cool talking point the next time you’re talking to someone about CPUs.
Mechanical samples are mainly to test the, well, mechanical components of the CPU, such as how it fits into a socket how to design the retention mechanism, and so on. Component manufacturers often receive these samples to help them design motherboard sockets and coolers to properly fit the CPU. And it looks like these CPUs have been well tested given the state of the IHS.
It’s impossible to determine the individual model of each CPU, as mechanical samples only carry the “Intel Confidential” markings, the same as engineering samples. There could be 6 “Core Ultra 9 285k’s ” here for all we know.
