Intel is introducing its 14th Gen desktop processors this week, with its top-of-the-line Core i9-14900K reaching 6GHz boost frequencies right out of the box. This is part of the Raptor Lake Refresh, which keeps the same prices for the 14th Gen Core i9, i7, and i5 processors as the 13th Gen when they go on sale on October 17th.
The new Core i9-14900K is the “fastest desktop processor at volume,” according to Intel, meaning it’s more widely available than the special-edition 13900KS that first achieved 6GHz at stock speeds last year. The Core i7-14700K could be the more interesting 14th Gen processor in this refresh, though, because of a big improvement to its efficiency cores.
This year, Intel is adding more cores to its Core i7 processor, going from eight efficiency and eight performance cores to 12 efficiency and eight performance cores. That’s a total of 20 cores for the Core i7-14700K, close to the 24 on the Core i9-14900K. The base clocks on the P-core are 3.4GHz and 2.5GHz on the E-core for the 14700K, the same as last year’s 13700K. These extra efficiency cores should help with creative tasks and even gaming performance for games that use multithreading.
Intel’s 14th Gen processors have some impressive benchmarks against AMD’s Ryzen 9 7950X and even Intel’s own previous Core i7 chips for creative tasks, but we’ll have to test how the new Core i7-14700K stacks up against AMD’s powerful 7800X3D chip for gaming performance. The Core i9-14900K, Intel’s top-of-the-line processor, has the 6GHz Thermal Velocity Boost frequency that was only available on the $699 special-edition Core i9-13900KS model before.
The P-core max turbo frequencies are also increased by 200Hz to 5.6GHz, and the E-core max turbo frequencies are increased by 100MHz. The base frequencies for both the P- and E-cores are also higher by 200MHz. Intel also has a new Core i5 this year. The i5-14600K has a total of 20 cores (six P-cores and eight E-cores) and has a base clock of 3.5GHz on the P-core side and a boost of up to 5.3GHz.
All of these 14th Gen processors are compatible with Intel 600- and 700-series motherboards, as Intel is still using its LGA 1700 socket. They also support Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 through an optional feature that motherboard makers can include in updated Z790 boards. Intel also supports DDR5 5600 and DDR4 3200 memory speeds with its 14th Gen chips.
In Australia, retailers will have all three processors for purchase from retailers on October 17th and on: the Core i9-14900K will be priced at $589, with the Core i7-1700K priced at $409 and the Core i5-14600K launching at $319.
