Original instruction: Pre binned cpu’s Rewritten: Initial CPU data preparation
Original instruction: Pre binned cpu’s Rewritten: Initial CPU data preparation
I was browsing CPU listings on a UK site and saw pre-binned i9 9900K models. The maximum listed speed is 5.3GHz, but they’re selling them for nearly double the regular price. Honestly, I didn’t realize they were being sold in that way. Could it mean they test and open them before selling? Or are they shipped directly from Intel?
From what I understand, it doesn't appear to be a scam. These individuals primarily purchase chips, modify them to test performance limits, and then resell them at a premium price. In my opinion, it seems unnecessary for most 9900KS chips since they typically reach at least 5.0 GHz, and many likely surpass that number. I believe the 9900KS chip is essentially a rebranded version of the 9900K, originally available with higher binning. Given that the 9900K could also achieve around 5.0 GHz without additional binning, it's reasonable to assume that any 9900KS chip you purchase should easily exceed 5.0 GHz without needing someone to test it for you. You might not hit 5.3 GHz, but achieving 5.1 to 5.2 GHz would be unusual and unlikely unless you're focusing on benchmarks. In practice, you probably won't notice a significant difference beyond that.
Silicon Lottery operates in North America and is clearly legitimate. It's not a scam, and companies like Intel have even experimented with similar projects.
They run 5Ghz at stock. Out of the box. 100% of 9900KS chips do 5Ghz. Other than that they're basically a 9900K with a different stepping and some other tweaks - fixes for vulnerabilities - which sadly leads to a slightly lower IPC. Though again you are gauranteed 5Ghz given that's the stock speed, and you have a higher chance of getting higher than that. Though a golden chip 9900K would be faster. These binning services aren't really worth it though, like you pointed out. I don't think even big OCers would particularly care for them, if you have the budget then binning chips yourself is likely better. Pre-binned chips can guarantee the speed they tested them at, but no higher. Which is problematic, some CPUs have hard walls. Such as my j-bin 5960X, it'll do 4.5Ghz at 1.2v just fine, does 4.7Ghz at 1.3v, but any higher than 4.8Ghz all core, or 3.7Ghz uncore, and it hits a hard wall. Can do 4.9Ghz core if I disable HyperThreading, and that's it. Hard wall anything past that. If a binning service had tested my 5960X at 4.7Ghz it would have passed, but they wouldn't know that it hits a wall at 4.8Ghz, so you're not guaranteed a better chip for extreme OCing (I know some guys had these at 5Ghz dailyable and up to 5.6 or so on LN2).