Boutique builder Digital Storm has added a new Intel CPU option to its desktops, the Core i9 10850K. What is noteworthy about this addition is that the chip does not officially exist. That is, the 10850K is not listed on Intel's website and cannot be found on places like Amazon or Newegg. In any case, it doesn't exist yet.

Digital Storm's listing (via @momo_us) represents the first official look at the chip, but information on the new Core i9 10850K SKU came from a prominent Twitter leaker highlighting a Geekbench entry from the new part brought to our attention a couple of weeks ago, when a prominent Twitter leaker highlighted a Geekbench entry from a new part.

The chip is offered in Digital Storm's entire desktop range, including Lynx, Lumos, Velox, Aventum, and Bolt configurations. Interestingly, Digital Storm has a Core i9 10900K with similar specs (the best CPU for gaming) on backorder, and the option to build a desktop around this part is still available, but will not ship until October.

Both the 10850K and 10900K are 10-core/20-thread CPUs based on Intel's Comet Lake architecture; the 10850K has a base clock of 3.6 GHz and a turbo clock of 5.2 GHz, while the 10900K has 3.7 GHz and 5.3 GHz In other words, both are 100 MHz slower than the other. In other words, both are 100 MHz slower. In other words, there is little difference.

Digital Storm sells the 10850K for $42 less than the 10900K. If this applies to retail sites (and assuming the 10850K is eventually offered as a standalone option), the street price could be in the neighborhood of $500.

Currently, the 10900K sells for $549.99 on Newegg, and Intel's recommended customer price (for customers buying in bulk trays of 1,000 units) is $488-$499.

At the high end, the 10850K is definitely the better value, especially if you can overclock to make up the difference in clock speed. Of course, there is no guarantee of that, but if you are buying a pre-built desktop from Digital Storm, the backordered 10900K is not a good option.