A featured image of the 9th generation Core i9 part.
A few storefronts have already started to list a new version with the suffix KA based on the Comet Lake-S design (via Videocardz). All of the processors that are listed are i9 processors. The unique part of this suffix is that the “A” has never been seen before. Processors with the K denote an unlocked multiplier. Some rumors floating around forums is that the KA denotes that these processors don’t reach the listed boost clock speeds.
Intel KA series appears to have leaked: pricing in between K and KF
The pricing can be seen in some European retailer’s online stores. The pricing suggests it will sit in between K and KF series being more expensive than the KF, but less than the K series. All of them seem to have the same L3 cache size.
The listed CPUs are the Core i9-10900KA (part number BX8070110900KA), with a 3.7 GHz Base clock, for €525; the Core i9-10850KA (BX8070110850KA) with a 3.6 GHz base clock, for €485; the Core i9-10700KA (BX8070110700KA) with a 3.8 GHz base clock, for €408; and the Core i9-10600KA (X8070110600KA) with a 4.1 GHz base clock, for €278.
The Core i9-10900KA costs 2.1% less than Core i9-10900K. The Core i9-10850KA costs the same price as the Core i9-10850K. The Core i9-10700KA costs 1.2% less than Core i7-10700K. The Core i9-10600KA costs 2.8% less than Core i5-10600K. Overall, they cost 2% less than the F counterparts. The price difference makes it seems that Intel doesn’t really need to introduce this chip, rather they want to either saturate the market or just add more models.
These leaked listing, unfortunately, don’t have a release date, but another rumor floating around from a credible source is that in-house samples will be released on August 9th. Intel could be saturating the market and then profiting off of it. It is always exciting to see new SKUs coming out, but we also get to see a new suffix from Intel.