Intel Core i9-14900K, Core i7-14700K, Core i5-14600K Desktop CPU Review: More Performance, Same Price

Intel's 14th Gen Raptor Lake Refresh CPU Family

So starting with the specifications, Intel's 14th Gen Raptor Lake Refresh CPUs will utilize the hybrid core design, featuring a mix of Performance-Optimized 'P' and Efficiency-Optimized 'E' cores. For these chips, Intel will be using the same P-Core known as Raptor Cove which replaces the Golden Cove cores featured on the Alder Lake CPUs. For E-Core, Intel will retain the existing Gracemont core architecture.

The architecture has seen several optimizations and key refinements that have led to an increase from 16 cores and 24 threads to 24 cores and 32 threads. The new 10nm ESF (Intel 7) process retains Intel's clock leadership, pushing the chips up to 6.0 GHz which is the fastest frequency we have seen on a factory-shipped chip.

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Intel’s Raptor Lake will be built using the company’s new E and P cores and represent a significant evolution in the company’s power efficiency targets. It will be built on the Intel 7 process and scale from 9 watts to 125 watts. DDR5 and PCIe gen5 will be supported and feature new technologies like the Intel Thread Director.

Raptor Lake will be fully scalable from Desktop (LGA1700) to ultra-mobile. Interestingly, however, while the platform has 8 P-cores and 16 E-cores, only the P-cores will support hyperthreading making for a total of 32 threads available. The integrated GPU will have 96 EUs of Xe architecture (good but nothing to write home about).

Raptor Lake will feature up to 35 MB of noninclusive LL Cache and support DDR5-5200, LP5-5600 DDR4-3200, and LP4x-4266. It will also support two times the PCIe bandwidth thanks to its support of PCIe 5 and will be able to provide up to 16 lanes of PCIe Gen5 with up to 64 GB/s.

The new design is fully modular and built like Lego and should be completely scalable and flexible. The compute fabric interconnect has a bandwidth of 1000 GB/s while the IO fabric has a BW of 64 GB/s. The memory subsystem supports up to 204 GB/s but more importantly, can scale memory frequency (and power) according to the needs of the SoC.

Intel Core i9-14900K 24 Core Raptor Lake CPU Specs

Starting with the flagship, we have the Intel Core i9-14900K CPU which will feature 16 cores & 32 threads in an 8+16 configuration. The CPU will feature up to 36 MB of Smart Cache and a base TDP of 125W (253W PL2). It will feature clock speeds of 3.2 GHz at base & up to 6.0 GHz with a Thermal Velocity Boost. This will be a +200 MHz frequency jump over the Core i9-13900K and the same as the Core i9-13900KS. The price for the chip is kept the same at $589 US (K) and $564 US (KF).

• Core i9-14900K 8+16 (24/32) - 3.2 / 6.0 GHz - 66 MB Cache, 125W (PL1) / 253W (PL2)
• Core i9-13900K 8+16 (24/32) - 3.0 / 5.8 GHz - 66 MB Cache, 125W (PL1) / 253W (PL2)
• Core i9-12900K 8+8 (16/24) - 3.2 / 5.2 GHz - 30 MB Cache, 125W (PL1) / 241W (PL2)

Intel Core i7-14700K 20 Core Raptor Lake CPU Specs

For the Core i7-14700K, Intel will be utilizing its 8+12 core configuration which offers 20 cores and 28 threads. This will be a nice upgrade over the existing Core i7-13700K which offers an 8+8 core configuration, allowing for a nice boost to multi-threading performance thanks to those extra E-Cores. The CPU will offer 33 MB of smart cache (vs 30 MB) and feature clock speeds of 3.4 GHz at base and up to 5.6 GHz with TBMT3. That's also a +200 MHz boost over the 13700K & we can see performance uplifts of around 5-10% from this particular SKU. Pricing is the best part since the i7-14700K & KF are the same price at $409 & $384 US, respectively.

• Core i7-14700K 8+12 (20/28) - 3.4 / 5.6 GHz - 61 MB Cache, 125W (PL1) / 253W (PL2)
• Core i7-13700K 8+8 (16/24) - 3.4 / 5.3 GHz - 54 MB Cache, 125W (PL1) / 253W (PL2)
• Core i7-12700K 8+4 (12/20) - 3.6 / 5.0 GHz, 25 MB Cache, 125W (PL1) / 190W (PL2)

Intel Core i5-14600K 14 Core Raptor Lake CPU Specs

Lastly, we have the Intel Core i5-14600K which unfortunately isn't using an 8+8 configuration as the rumors had told but rather a 6+8 which is the same as the Core i5-13600K. The cache and TDP will remain the same but the clock speeds will see a +200 MHz to 5.3 GHz, offering up to a 5% boost in performance over its predecessor. Pricing is once again the same as the Core i5-13600K/KF at $319 & $294 US, respectively.

• Core i5-14600K 6+8 (14/20) - 3.5 / 5.3 GHz - 44 MB Cache, 125W (PL1) / 181W (PL2)
• Core i5-13600K 6+8 (14/20) - 3.5 / 5.1 GHz - 44 MB Cache, 125W (PL1) /181W (PL2)
• Core i5-12600K 6+4 (10/16) - 3.6 / 4.9 GHz - 20 MB Cache, 125W (PL1) / 150W (PL2)

Besides the chips, Intel also acknowledges how its 14th-gen CPUs are supported by both 600 & 700-series platforms. The newest refresh 700-series motherboards also get discrete WIFI 7 and integrated USB 3.2 20 Gbps IO capabilities. The CPUs are also fine-tuned for better overclocking capabilities such as:

• Increased OC frequencies for P-Cores and E-Cores
• Higher DDR5 XMP speeds: beyond 8000 MT/s
• New per-core thermal throttle for improved OC perf
• New 3rd party OC tool, based on Intel's XTU SDK: FoundationTK.com

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The company also embeds AI Assistance within its XTU software which will be offered in a new preview feature and offers:

• Utilizes AI model trained by Intel
• Characterizes individual systems and recommends customized overclocked settings
• Simply step-by-step UI: no experience required
• Offered for i9-14900K/KF processors

Intel also claims that it has added a new policy within the Dynamic Tuning Technology framework known as Intel Application Optimization which determines and directs application resources in real-time. These optimizations can deliver up to 16% performance uplifts in specific game titles.

• Supported on select Intel Core 14th Gen S-series processors
• Software optimizations focused on gaming applications

Intel 14th Gen Raptor Lake-S Refresh Desktop CPU Specs:

CPU Name	Cores	Threads	Base Clock	Boost Clock	L2 / L3 Cache	TDP (PL1)	MSRP
Core i9-14900KS	8+16 (24)	32	3.2 GHz	6.2 GHz	32 / 36 MB	150W	$699 US
Core i9-14900K	8+16 (24)	32	3.2 GHz	6.0 GHz	32 / 36 MB	125W	$589 US
Core i9-14900KF	8+16 (24)	32	3.2 GHz	6.0 GHz	32 / 36 MB	125W	$564 US
Core i9-14900	8+16 (24)	32	2.0 GHz	5.8 GHz	32 / 36 MB	65W	$549 US
Core i9-14900F	8+16 (24)	32	2.0 GHz	5.8 GHz	32 / 36 MB	65W	$524 US
Core i9-14900T	8+16 (24)	32	1.1 GHz	5.5 GHz	32 / 36 MB	35W	$549 US
Core i7-14700K	8+12 (20)	28	3.4 GHz	5.6 GHz	28 / 33 MB	125W	$409 US
Core i7-14700KF	8+12 (20)	28	3.4 GHz	5.6 GHz	28 / 33 MB	125W	$384 US
Core i7-14700	8+12 (20)	28	2.1 GHz	5.4 GHz	28 / 33 MB	65W	$384 US
Core i7-14700F	8+12 (20)	28	2.1 GHz	5.4 GHz	28 / 33 MB	65W	$359 US
Core i7-14700T	8+12 (20)	28	1.3 GHz	5.2 GHz	28 / 33 MB	35W	$384 US
Core i7-14790F	8+8 (16)	24	2.1 GHz	5.4 GHz	24 / 36 MB	65W	TBD
Core i5-14600K	6+8 (14)	20	3.5 GHz	5.3 GHz	20 / 24 MB	125W	$319 US
Core i5-14600KF	6+8 (14)	20	3.5 GHz	5.3 GHz	20 / 24 MB	125W	$294 US
Core i5-14600	6+8 (14)	20	2.7 GHz	5.2 GHz	20 / 24 MB	65W	$255 US
Core i5-14500	6+8 (14)	20	2.6 GHz	5.0 GHz	20 / 24 MB	65W	$232 US
Core i5-14500T	6+8 (14)	20	1.7 GHz	4.8 GHz	20 / 24 MB	35W	$232 US
Core i5-14400	6+8 (14)	20	2.5 GHz	4.7 GHz	9.5/ 20 MB	65W	$221 US
Core i5-14400F	6+8 (14)	20	2.5 GHz	4.7 GHz	9.5/ 20 MB	65W	$196 US
Core i5-14490F	6+4(10)	16	2.8 GHz	4.9 GHz	9.5/ 24 MB	65W	TBD
Core i5-14400	6+4(10)	16	2.5 GHz	4.7 GHz	9.5/ 20 MB	65W	$221 US
Core i5-14400F	6+4(10)	16	2.5 GHz	4.7 GHz	9.5/ 20 MB	65W	$221 US
Core i5-14400T	6+4(10)	16	1.5 GHz	4.5 GHz	9.5/ 20 MB	35W	$196 US
Core i3-14100	4+0 (4)	8	3.5 GHz	4.7 GHz	5.0 / 12 MB	60W	$134 US
Core i3-14100F	4+0 (4)	8	3.5 GHz	4.7 GHz	5.0 / 12 MB	58W	$109 US
Core i3-14100T	4+0 (4)	8	2.7 GHz	4.4 GHz	5.0 / 12 MB	35W	$109 US
Intel 310	2+0 (2)	4	4.1 GHz	N/A	2.5 / 6.0 MB	46W	$82 US?
Intel 300	2+0 (2)	4	3.9 GHz	N/A	2.5 / 6.0 MB	46W	$82 US
Intel 300T	2+0 (2)	4	3.4 GHz	N/A	2.5 / 6.0 MB	35W	$82 US

Intel 14th Gen CPUs Official Performance Versus The Competition

In terms of performance, Intel is claiming up to 23% performance gain and a 2.5% average gain for the Core i9-14900K CPU over the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D across several games at 1080P High. Intel goes on ahead to compare the 14900K against the Ryzen 9 7950X and the Ryzen 7 7800X3D where the chip seems to offer similar or better performance in both average FPS and 99th percentile lows however one major metric that isn't shown here is the gaming power efficiency which we know for certain is going to be strong on the Ryzen side.

Intel's 14th Gen CPUs are mostly going the brute force route by upping the clock speeds and that is going to result in more power draw and higher thermals than the competition since there are no major architectural or process node changes involved over the existing 13th Gen chips.

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The blue team also compares the content creation performance across various applications which show the Core i9-14900K leading against the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and the Core i7-14700K nearing it in performance in multiple workloads. The Core i7-14700K also delivers up to 63% uplifts over the Core i7-12700K so it does seem to be a worthy upgrade over the 12th Gen i7 chips. Even i7-13700K owners would see a nice boost with the 14700K so if you were planning to buy the 13700K, you'd much rather buy the 14700K now since they'll both be priced the same.

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Intel 14th gen Raptor Lake Refresh CPU Specs & Prices (Official):

CPU Name	Cores	Threads	Base Clock	Boost Clock	L2 / L3 Cache	TDP (PL1) / (PL2)	Price (RCP at Launch)
Core i9-14900K	8+16 (24)	32	3.2 GHz	6.0 GHz	32 / 36 MB	125W / 253W	$589 US
Core i9-13900K	8+16 (24)	32	3.0 GHz	5.8 GHz	32 / 36 MB	125W / 253W	$589 US
Core i9-12900K	8+8 (16)	24	3.2 GHz	5.2 GHz	14 / 30 MB	125W / 241W	$648 US
Core i9-14900KF	8+16 (24)	32	3.2 GHz	6.0 GHz	32 / 36 MB	125W / 253W	$564 US
Core i9-13900KF	8+16 (24)	32	3.0 GHz	5.8 GHz	32 / 36 MB	125W / 253W	$564 US
Core i9-12900KF	8+8 (16)	24	3.2 GHz	5.2 GHz	14 / 30 MB	125W / 241W	$620 US
Core i7-14700K	8+12 (20)	28	3.4 GHz	5.6 GHz	28 / 33 MB	125W / 253W	$409 US
Core i7-13700K	8+8 (16)	24	3.4 GHz	5.4 GHz	24 / 30 MB	125W / 253W	$409 US
Core i7-12700K	8+4 (12)	20	3.6 GHz	5.0 GHz	12 / 25 MB	125W / 190W	$450 US
Core i7-14700KF	8+12 (20)	28	3.4 GHz	5.6 GHz	28 / 33 MB	125W / 253W	$384 US
Core i7-13700KF	8+8 (16)	24	3.4 GHz	5.4 GHz	24 / 30 MB	125W / 253W	$384 US
Core i7-12700KF	8+4 (12)	20	3.6 GHz	5.0 GHz	12 / 25 MB	125W / 190W	$422 US
Core i5-14600K	6+8 (14)	20	3.5 GHz	5.3 GHz	20 / 24 MB	125W / 181W	$319 US
Core i5-13600K	6+8 (14)	20	3.5 GHz	5.3 GHz	20 / 24 MB	125W / 181W	$319 US
Core i5-12600K	6+4 (10)	16	3.7 GHz	4.9 GHz	9.5 / 20 MB	125W / 150W	$318 US
Core i5-14600KF	6+8 (14)	20	3.5 GHz	5.3 GHz	20 / 24 MB	125W / 181W	$294 US
Core i5-13600KF	6+8 (14)	20	3.5 GHz	5.3 GHz	20 / 24 MB	125W / 181W	$294 US
Core i5-12600KF	6+4 (10)	16	3.7 GHz	4.9 GHz	9.5 / 20 MB	125W / 150W	$290 US

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