Thursday, October 21st 2021

A Closer Look at the Intel Core i9-12900K Retail Package
Intel has had a little streak of quirky, over-the-top retail packages for its flagship desktop processors since the 9th Generation Core i9-9900K, which carries on into the 12th Gen with that of the Core i9-12900K. Overclocking.com posted a set of unboxing images. It's important to note here, that these are images of the retail i9-12900K, and not some special package sent to reviewers.
The package involves a hard paperboard hollow cube with two open sides. You undo a set of pull-tabs that are probably held together by factory seal, to pull out a pair of plastic stands holding what looks like a stack of silicon wafers in place. This decorative plastic canister is painted in gold-chrome and disperses colors like a fabricated wafer does. You open the two halves of this "wafer" to find your processor inside, with some Styrofoam cushioning. A separate compartment in the paperboard housing contains the documentation and a case-badge.If past trends are anything to go by, this package is likely exclusive to the i9-12900K. The i9-12900KF, which lacks an iGPU, comes in a much simpler thin paperboard box that looks similar to the packages of the i7-12700K, or i5-12600K. The Core i9-12900 (non-K) comes in a slightly bigger box, which contains one of Intel's new-generation boxed coolers. The Core i9-12900K reportedly opens up to pre-orders on October 27, with general availability slated for November 4.
Source:
Overclocking.com
The package involves a hard paperboard hollow cube with two open sides. You undo a set of pull-tabs that are probably held together by factory seal, to pull out a pair of plastic stands holding what looks like a stack of silicon wafers in place. This decorative plastic canister is painted in gold-chrome and disperses colors like a fabricated wafer does. You open the two halves of this "wafer" to find your processor inside, with some Styrofoam cushioning. A separate compartment in the paperboard housing contains the documentation and a case-badge.If past trends are anything to go by, this package is likely exclusive to the i9-12900K. The i9-12900KF, which lacks an iGPU, comes in a much simpler thin paperboard box that looks similar to the packages of the i7-12700K, or i5-12600K. The Core i9-12900 (non-K) comes in a slightly bigger box, which contains one of Intel's new-generation boxed coolers. The Core i9-12900K reportedly opens up to pre-orders on October 27, with general availability slated for November 4.
50 Comments on A Closer Look at the Intel Core i9-12900K Retail Package
But they stop doing it after Zen2 TR.
Meanwhile Intel was still making acrylic footballs with 9900k, then the box stepped on by the courier for 11900k and now this.
I had thought early Ryzen were shipped in similar containers as TR. If not, I stand corrected.
www.msn.com/en-au/news/techandscience/intels-unreleased-core-i9-12900k-processor-goes-on-sale-early/ar-AAPPmhC?li=AAgfYrC#image=1
Yeah the box is a well known selling point :kookoo:
Best way to avoid all this junk. Plus it's a bit cheaper.
Tray are oem's no itel warranty like boxed.
It has never happened to me once. It would have to be user error and boxed CPU warranty wont help you there anyway.
Last year 9940x crapped out
Seller warranty isn't worth anything in the USA unless you purchased it on top of the cpu cost
Micro center does this instore warranty stuff but they have doubled the price of it now it probably eat their ass lol
I guess it's good that i live in the EU then.
But considering how rare CPU RMA's are compared to other components i would think that Intel and AMD replace nearly all those except for ones with extreme OC damage, lapped or replaced IHS etc. Not doing so would be bad PR and a lost customer.
Just because a CPU rarely goes "bad" it doesn't mean it never does. A warranty is always needed for whatever crazy behavior the CPU may have at any stage of it's early life.
And just because you've never had a DOA CPU doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
In that case having a box and 3 years (thats not enough for a CPU imo) wont do you any good regardless.
The main problem is that neither Intel or AMD release their RMA statistics and there are no decent public sources like there is for storage (Backblaze).
That leaves me guessing based on my own experience and from what i've seen around the forums for the past ~15 years ive been active in the DIY space.
The only times i've seen people with genuine CPU issues has been either user error (voltage, physical damage) or errata (1st gen Ryzen had this if im not mistaken) where the CPU worked but was doing something wrong.
Im not by any means saying it does not happen. But compared to other components it must be miniscule amount. Sure i would like all consumer electronics to have minimum 5 year warranty anywhere regardless if they're bulk, oem or tray. As longer as the product itself is genuine and it's not user error it should be replaced.
But dont pretend like it's this big issue. And this comes from people who complain about a fancy box being wasteful. I mean what do you want? Tray versions exist and if you're so worried about a box (that is most likely made out of recyclable materials) you have the option to either buy tray, buy used or don't buy at all.
I was just asked, When was the last time I had to rma a chip, which is off topic
Short story is, dead cpu it doesn't matter if it was design failure or user failure from oc as the cause "mine just died on start up one day no oc" 3 year intel warranty covers it as long as the chip is not damaged/ burns... on either top or bottom
I was fortunate to have another chip to test the mother board and it was fine and images showed no damage so standard rma approved.
This was over 1k.us chips so a tray sibling would be a large loss and I doubt very much cheaper.
I even got oc policy on my 10900k this time just for grins which Intel doesn't offer anymore.
Intel do put way too much thought into boxes lol
But I do agree, these should be like limited edition for those who want to keep the box in a shelf as decoration or whatever, otherwise general release would be better on boring recycable brown cardboard as most buyers won't give shit