Intel's 14th Gen Raptor Lake Processors Add More Cores Without A Price Bump
Intel has introduced its 14th Gen Raptor Lake-S desktop processors across the Core i5, i7, and i9 families, offering six total variations. While the upgrades aren't too dramatic compared to the 13th-generation silicon, the latest Intel offerings don't serve a price hike as well. Moreover, the gulf in core count between the Core i7 and i9 trims has been further trimmed. All the new 14th-generation processors are already up for grabs starting October 17.
Beginning with the Core i9-14900K, you get the same 32-core package capable of hitting the 6 GHz performance ceiling, but there are a few changes inside. The cluster of eight performance cores and 16 efficiency cores have each received a speed bump worth up to 200 MHz compared to the previous generation.
Intel is touting a 54% uplift in creative tasks, and a 23% boost in gaming performance riding atop new gaming-centric features that improve threading performance, and a new XTU AI Assist overclocking system.
Intel is parading some solid gains at games like "Starfield" and "CS: GO" (now "Counter Strike 2"), but the lead is negligible (or even dips) in other AAA titles like "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II" and "Horizon Zero Dawn." The upper hand over AMD's Ryzen 9 7950X, however, is consistent across benchmarks and creative tasks. The Intel Core i9-14900K version with the integrated UHD 770 graphics starts at $589, while the Core i9-14900KF variant lacking the in-house graphics will cost less at $564.
The Core i7 seems like a winner
Next in line is the 14th Gen Core i7, which actually gets the meatier generation-over-generation upgrades, and hits the right balance between price and performance. Intel has armed it with eight performance cores and 12 efficiency cores (four more than the previous generation), allowing it to hit a peak clock speed of 5.6GHz. Each core class gets a speed bump, as well.
The upgrades also reflect in the benchmark figures, as the Core i7-14900K offers a consistently higher performance compared to its 13th gen predecessor, and also when pitted against its Core i9 sibling. Intel has set a base price of $409 for the Core i7-14700K processor, while the KF variant devoid of built-in graphics will set you back $384.
Finally, we have the i5-14600K, which offers a total of 14 cores (six performance and eight efficiency cores) and 20 threads, while maxing out at a respectable 5.3GHz boost frequency. This one costs $319, while the Core i5-14600KF version has a sticker price of $294. Of course, the final price you pay may depend on supply and market availability.
The new Intel offerings are compatible with the Series 600 and 700 motherboards, which is a welcome backward compatibility convenience. The connectivity suite for Intel's 14th Gen processors includes Wi-Fi 6 and Thunderbolt 4, with discrete upgrades for the upcoming Bluetooth v4.0 and Thunderbolt 5 (offering double the bandwidth at 80 Gbps) also on the table.