Intel Core i7-14700K CPU Review

Introduction

Around a month back, Intel launched the last batch of CPU’s from its 10nm manufacturing process, codenamed Raptor Lake Refresh. Intel, for the first time did not think of a fresh codename for a new generation, and rightly so. They could have given the 14th generation a fresh name to attract consumers, but they didn’t. So Intel gets integrity points, something that is rare among huge corporations.

There are a couple of aspects that make Intel’s 14th Gen CPUs “special”. First and foremost, this is the absolute last batch of CPUs from Intel’s 10nm manufacturing process. After a handful of dismal releases, Intel redeemed itself with its 10nm CPUs, and the Raptor Lake Refresh hands down offers the best of this outgoing generation – mature, tested, troubleshooted, leveraged, updated, upgraded.

Another thing special about 14th Gen Intel is that is the last generation that will carry the “Core” branding. What seemed synonymous to Intel processors is being let go, and we are sure this will bring some emotions for PC enthusiasts. Intel introduced its Core series way back in 2007. Those chips were ground-breaking in every sense for computing, and now they’re letting go of the “Core” branding. As neutrals, this only makes Intel’s next moves really exciting!

The Intel Core i7-14700K replaces the 13700K. This is the most significant update in Intel’s latest line-up with the most tangible gains. In contrast, the 14900K is not really that different from the 13900K, and so is the 14600K.

Intel Core i7-14700K Specifications

	Intel Core i9-14900K	Intel Core i7-14700K	Intel Core i7-13700K
Performance Cores	8	8	8
Efficiency Cores	16	12	8
Threads	32	28	24
P-Core Base/Boost Clock (Ghz)	3.0 / 5.8	3.4 / 5.5	3.4 / 5.4
E-Core Base/Boost Clock (Ghz)	2.4 / 4.4	2.5 / 4.3	2.5 / 4.2
Cache	68MB	61MB	54MB
TDP/PBP/MTP	125/253W	125/253W	125/253W

Looking at the specifications table, it is clear the the i7-14700K has got the most meaningful bump in specifications from the 13th Gen i7-13700K. You get four more efficiency cores than the previous generation which is rather significant considering the multi-core improvements. That makes is a total of 20 cores, which only means great multi-application performance. A boost clock of 5.5Ghz means you will most probably be slaughtering through games, old and new and upcoming. Even the number of threads are increased by four, from 24 to 28, or around 25%. There is a slight upgrade in the cache, around 7MB and a 100Hz increase in Boost Clock. The other upgrades are application based and present in the Intel 14th Gen family of CPUs, which we have discussed here.

The 14th Gen platform is compatible with LGA 1700 sockets, so upgrading from 12th Gen CPUs won’t require changing the motherboard. However, it one intends to use high-speed DDR5 RAM, an upgrade from Z690 to Z790 is a must. Then there is added Wi-Fi 7 support for the 14th Gen. Luckily, MSI provided us a motherboard that supports Wi-Fi 7, the MAG Tomahawk Z790 Max Wi-Fi.

Test System

Lo and behold, our test system! All components belong to the latest generation of their respective iterations. Our motherboard platform is Z790, our RAM is DDR5 clocked at 6000Mhz, our NVME SSDs are Gen4, our GPU an RTX 4080.

CPU	Intel Core i7-14700K
Memory	Kingston Fury Renegade 64GB (16×4) @ 6000Mhz (XMP 2.0)
Motherboard	MSI Mag Z790 Tomahawk Max WiFi
SSD	Kingston Fury Renegade PCIe 4.0 NVME M.2
Graphics	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Founders Edition
Cooling	CoolerMaster MasterLiquid PL360 Flux Anniversary Edition
Power Supply	CoolerMaster MVE GOLD V2 1250W
Thermal Paste	CoolerMaster CryoFuze
Monitor	BenQ XL2730Z 2560x1440p 144Hz

Performance

Time to run the benchmarks as per iLLGaming CPU Benchmark Framework.

Speed Tests

Our Speed Tests include CineBench R23 Single Core and Multi Core, CrossMark, PCMark 8 and 3DMark Time Spy. To know more about why we use these specific tests, have a look at our benchmark framework document. Below is a slideshow of results of our speed benchmarks. Use the buttons to scroll through the images.

The Intel Core i7-14700K scored 2063 points the Single Core test of Cinebench R23. For the Multi Core test, the CPU scored 34257 points, which was the highest score we’ve seen for a CPU till date, till we received the i9-14900K. CrossMark is a tool that runs the same standardised tests for all platforms (CPU, mobile) and gives a comparable score. The i7-14700K absolutely blew the CrossMark test away. Comparison charts with other processors are below.

We choose the Time Spy preset in 3DMark because that is the most suitable for Ray Tracing and DirectX 11 systems. The test stresses both the CPU and GPU. During the test we also measure the power consumption and thermals.

Performance Comparison Charts

Here are the comparison charts for the Intel Core i7-14700K. The CPUs we have used for comparison are the Core i9-14900K and 13900K, the i7-13700K and i5-13600K, and among AMD’s lineup we have chosen their Ryzen 9 7950X3D and Ryzen 7 7800X3D. This is a good mix of the most popular top-tier CPUs in the market today.

Cinebench is the de-facto test one ought to run their CPU on. It is widely considered the standard among builders to measure CPU performance. The Multi-Core test has the ability to drive most, if not all CPUs to their absolute limits, usually ending up with throttling. The test has never let anybody down, and dishes out predictable scores as per the capabilities of the hardware.

In line with what we just spoke about, the 14700K takes a huge leap ahead of the 13700K scoring 20% higher in the multi-core test. That is due to the four extra cores it has received. There is a reason why the 14700K is being called the most significant processor of Raptor Lake Refresh. The 14700K is just a mere 3% behind 13900K, Intel’s flagship 13th-Gen CPU. The 14900K is the new king of Cinebench R23 Multi Core test, being around 8% ahead of the 14700K.

Where Cinebench tends to give predictable scores, here we have an interesting test called CrossMark that yields unpredictable score. That mght be down to the fact that CrossMark is a standardised multi-platform benchmark tool. The 14700K overall scores higher that all CPUs tested except the 13900K. The 14700K is even faster than the 14900K. Even the 13700K is faster than Intel’s latest flagship. As seen in Cinebench and CrossMark, the 14700K is clearly punching above its weight and performs almost neck-to-neck like the 13900K.

PCMark runs predetermined scenarios that an average person would use their computer for: browsing, image editing, video conferencing, gaming, streaming videos etc. It then yields a score based on how fast the machine performed in its scenarios. The 14700K is hands down the fastest in the PCMark test, even beating the 14900K, 13900K and the 7950X3D. The Intel CPUs clearly beat the AMD CPUs when it comes to productivity tasks, as evident from the PCMark scores. More on this later.

Gaming Comparison Charts

Cyberpunk 2077

This is now becoming a pattern and ought to be studied in detail. The 14700K has just edged out the 14900K in average FPS in Cyberpunk 2077. It is even faster than the 13900K and 7950X3D, and 13700K is a given. This makes it clear that the 14700K is the king in gaming.

Now this is an interesting score, with the same pattern being repeated. In 3DMark Time Spy, the 14700K is a solid 2500 points ahead of the 14900K. That roughly equals 12%. We have shared our results with Intel and have asked them to shed some light into why this is the case. But we have to accept what lies in front of us, that the 14700K performs faster than both the 14900K and 13900K in gaming. One reason behind this could be thermal throttling of the i9 CPUs, we are studying these findings and will update on the prognosis.

Power Consumption

Everybody is talking about how much power Intel’s 13th and 14th Gen processors use when stressed and pushed. While it is true that these CPUs are power hungry when pushed, in a real world scenario, those use cases hardly exist. The truth is that for most workflows, Intel’s 14th and 13th Gen CPUs are pretty efficient and cool. At Idle, the CPU consumed just 24.2 Watts, which is impressive for a chip this powerful. Only when benchmarking apps do we see the CPU being stressed to its peak, but in the real world there are hardly any apps or games that will stress the CPU this much.

Alan Wake II is a CPU intensive game. It tends to make the CPU run at 100% loads for extended time periods, and consumes a maximum of 238 Watts. However, the average power consumption during a session is below 150 Watts which is pretty commendable. In Cyberpunk 2077 the average power consumption stood at 120 Watts.

Efficiency is the key point here. The 14700K completed the CrossMark test using average 87.2 Watts. CrossMark tests the CPU through intensive productivity, creative, gaming and responsiveness tasks. The 14700K didn’t even touch 100 Watts in CrossMark, hence proving it is one of the efficient chips out there. This still doesn’t change the fact that if pushed, the 14700K won’t hesitate in increasing its power draw till it can handle the heat.

Heat

Since we’re talking about efficiency, how about Idle temperatures. The 14700K beats the AMDs and its Intel cousins. Surprisingly, even the 14900K does pretty well. These two 14-Gen CPUs tend to run the coolest when Idle. Under load, the 14700K is hotter than all the 13th Gen chips, but not by a wide margin. This is down to the fact the 14700K is clocked higher, and higher clocks means more heat.

Here is something that the graphics won’t tell you. The Ryzen 7 and 9, as per the charts, generate the least heat when stressed. The Intels generate more heat because they are simply faster than the AMD chips when it comes to productivity and creative tasks like video editing, rendering etc. When gaming, the 14700K was reaching maximum temperatures of 60-70 degrees Celsius. On the contrary, a lot of games easily drive the 7950X3D and 7800X3D to 80 degrees above temperatures. In that sense, Intel does a better job in heat generation. The maximum temperatures are higher for the Intel CPUs because they tend to extend their power draw till the CPU reaches its upper limit, after which they throttle. This tendency of the Intel CPUs make the numbers biased against it, but such is not the case.

Conclusion

Intel managed to successfully redeem itself since it launched its 12th Gen series of CPUs, and it hasn’t looked back since. After regaining its throne, Intel offerings seem more self-realized and confident. The 14th Generation is Intel’s last generation based on the 10nm process, and the last generation to use the “Core” branding. It is a farewell to Intel’s past and a gateway to the future. Rightly so, these facts provide their tint to the 14700K, a processor that aces in all departments.

Whether it’s gaming you want, or intensive work you desire, the 14700K is a powerhouse of a CPU. It kind of makes the 13900K redundant (yaay pricedrops!) and more so the 13700K. In the 14th Gen lineup, the 14700K is the best CPU simply for what it offers over and above the last generation. We have seen how the 14700K has claimed the throne in gaming. There’s really nothing going wrong with the 14700K, even if one had to nit pick.

We are looking at the 14700K as Intel’s farewell to its legacy, and offering the best of the chip maker’s efforts.

Pricing and Availability

The 14700K is available on major online and offline retailers and can be had for a lowest price of INR 40,000/-. This makes it of really good value since the 13900K costs around INR 45,000/- and as we saw above, the 14700K beats the 13900K in a couple of tests, especially in gaming. The 13700K is now going for INR 34,000/- which makes it a good deal. Expect the prices for the 13th Gen to fall more, along with prices for Z690 motherboards.

Why choose Intel over AMD in 2024?

Both the chips manufacturers bring their own offerings to the table. AMD’s Ryzen 7 and 9 are cheaper and provide fantastic gaming performance. Intel’s chips are more expensive but more well rounded. Intel chips are much smoother in productivity and creative tasks. Windows in general is much snappier on an Intel chip than an AMD chip. You can’t put this in a benchmark, this is very experiential based. In the end, what matters is your own requirements. If you strictly want a PC to game on and nothing else, the Ryzen CPUs are the way to go. If you want a system that does it all, look no further than Intel. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for for the desktop chip giants.

Should you upgrade to Intel Core i7-14700K?

If you are coming from an old platform like the 6th and 7th generation, now is the right time to upgrade to a new platform. It can either be the 13th Gen or the 14th Gen. The 14th Gen is only slightly better, but you can net good savings with the 13th Gen. It you are already on the 12th Gen and are looking for even faster speeds and better gaming and application performance, you can upgrade to the 14th Gen, and you won’t even have to change your motherboard. However, you can even pass this and wait for the newer fabrication process CPUs.

Disclaimer: This CPU is a sample unit provided by the regional team of the respective brand on returnable basis. iLLGaming does not receive any form of payment for the reviews that it does.

Test Bench Hardware sponsored by: Cooler Master, Kingston, HyperX, MSI and Nvidia