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

Last year, Intel introduced its 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPU family. The family offered more cores, more threads, more cache, the highest clock speeds we have seen on a mainstream chip & was compatible with the same LGA 1700 platforms as the 12th Gen Alder Lake CPUs. We also saw an influx of new 700-series motherboards which offered better memory support, I/O features, and powerful VRM solutions to support these brand-new chips at the time.

Now in 2023, Intel is reintroducing its Raptor Lake CPU family as a part of a refresh under the 14th Gen branding. The lineup mostly retains the same core configurations besides one SKU while being mostly a clock lift update which is reminiscent of what Intel has done in the past. A +200 MHz clock speed is about as much as you would expect from the lineup. The company hopes that this will be enough to tackle the AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs, especially the newer X3D parts which are gaining a lot of recommendations within the gaming segment due to their impressive performance, pricing & efficiency.

But since Intel has simply upped the clock speeds without utilizing any new technologies (process, 3D V-Cache tech, etc), the extra performance would come at a thermal and power cost. So it’s time to see what Intel’s 14th Gen Raptor Lake Refresh CPUs have to offer. Following is what you should expect from the Intel 14th Gen CPU lineup:

Intel 13th Gen Raptor Lake Desktop CPUs Features:

• Same Architecture as Raptor Lake (Raptor Cove P-Cores + Gracemont E-Cores)
• Same Process Node as Raptor Lake (Intel 7 aka 10nm++)
• Higher Clock Speeds Beyond 6.0 GHz
• Support For Faster DDR5 Memory DIMMs
• Much Higher Power Consumption (Close To 300W)
• Compatibility With Existing LGA 1700 / 1800 Socket Motherboards

For this review. Intel sent us the Core i9-14900K, Core i7-14700K, and Core i5-14600K CPU whereas Gigabyte arranged the Z790 AORUS Master X motherboard.