Intel Arrow Lake CPUs up for sale on Chinese marketplace —$1,360 buys six mechanical samples

Hardware detective Harukaze5719 has discovered a Taobao listing selling not one but six of Intel’s looming Core Ultra 200 (Arrow Lake) processors. These mechanical samples have escaped the lab, and someone put them up for sale. 

According to the seller, the mechanical samples have different power limits for testing CPU coolers. This is evident since the processors still have the circular CPU cooler markings on the IHS. The model is unknown since engineering samples, or in this case, mechanical samples, only carry the “Intel Confidential” markings. The “QDF4” designation aligns with a previously leaked LGA1851 chip that popped up last month. The Taobao seller didn’t blur out the FPO (Finished Process Order) number on the Arrow Lake samples.

The seller asks around $1,360.54 for all six mechanical samples, equivalent to $226.76 for each chip. Of course, you should stay away from them. As the name implies, mechanical samples are designed for Intel and its partners to evaluate the mechanical part of the processor. Motherboard and cooling vendors typically receive these samples to see how an upcoming chip would fit in the socket or for the latter to design new CPU coolers or heatsinks or evaluate existing products with the CPUs.

Mechanicals may or may not have a die, so these Arrow Lake chips on Taobao may not even work on your motherboard. In fact, LGA1851 motherboards aren’t even out yet, even if you get a working sample.

Arrow Lake will reportedly launch on October 24, so Intel’s next-generation processors are almost here. There’s no point in purchasing anything that isn’t a retail product. As usual, the K-series SKUs will lead the launch, with the Core Ultra 9 285K, Core Ultra 7 265K, and Core Ultra 5 245K being the first available Arrow Lake chips and the non-K parts arriving later. Since Arrow Lake commands a new socket, Intel’s motherboard partners will offer an army of different LGA1851 motherboards for consumers. The premium Z890 chipset is expected to hit the retailer market first, while the other chipsets are not far behind.