Intel only released its 8-core i9-9900KS CPU in October 2019, and despite claiming it is the “world’s best gaming processor”, it seems like its days could be numbered, as Intel prepares to launch its 10th generation desktop processors.
The Intel Core i9-9900KS was aimed at directly tackling AMD’s Ryzen processors, coming with 8 cores and 16 threads, but with higher clock speeds, and was released in a bid to stop the company losing market share to the resurgent AMD, which is finding mainstream success with its 8-core processors.
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Boasting 5GHz on all cores, the Intel Core i9-9900KS is a powerful (and power-hungry) chip, that is also pricey, but allows Intel to advertise it as the fastest gaming processor you could buy.
However, the Intel Core i9-9900KS’ lifespan was always going to short, many suspected, due to the ‘S’ in its name, which stood for ‘special edition’. We have reached out to Intel, however, to see if the lifespan is indeed over, or if there's just a supply issue. We'll update this article as soon as we hear more.
End of the line?
Intel has released several special editions of its processors in the past, and it looks like the Core i9-9900KS’ days are numbered, with Computerbase reporting that several retailers no longer have the chip in stock, while even the biggest retailers, like Amazon, only have limited stock left.
This suggests that Intel has stopped producing the Core i9-9900KS. If you were after the CPU you may be out of luck, then, especially as what little stock is left has gone up in price. Wccftech points out at Amazon, the price of the chip rocketed up to $963.83.
So, why has Intel stopped production of the Core i9-9900KS? For a start, as a special edition, it was always likely to have a shorter shelf life than other processors.
The other factor is that Intel is gearing up to launch its highly-anticipated 10th-generation Comet Lake-S processors, such as the rumored Intel Core i7-10700KF, which will likely replace the Intel Core i9-9900KS.
So, while Intel may indeed be killing off the ‘world’s best gaming processor’, it looks set to replace it with something just as good – and hopefully not as expensive.
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