Conclusion
Intel has launched its Intel Core 14th Gen Desktop S-series Processor Family, and coming in right in the middle is the new Intel Core i7-14700K CPU. The Intel Core i7-14700K has an RCP USD of $409 matching its predecessor, the Intel Core i7-13700K, and the Intel Core i7-12700K before it. The Intel Core i7-14700K is based on the same Raptor Lake architecture as found in its Intel Core i7-13700K and 13th Gen Processors.
With a middling price, the Intel Core i7-14700K actually improves the 14th Gen family by increasing its E-Cores by four, making the Intel Core i7-14700K have more cores and threads than its predecessors. The Intel Core i7-14700K is a refinement of that technology process and offers free clock speed boosts to P-cores and E-cores as well. It has 8 P-cores and 12 E-cores with 28 Threads, providing a boost up from the 8 P-core/8 E-core/24-thread configuration of the Intel Core i7-13700K. It also has 33MB of L3 cache and 28MB of L2 cache. The P-core Max Turbo is now also up to 5.5GHz and the E-core Max Turbo at 4.3GHz with a Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 boost of up to 5.6GHz.
Since it fits right into LGA1700 sockets, it also works with Intel’s Z600 and Z700 series chipsets which can combine with DDR4 or DDR5. To get the most out of these CPUs, DDR5 is the best way to go. In our review today, we took the new Intel Core i7-14700K through its paces in synthetic system benchmarks, and gaming at 4K, 1440p, and 1080p. We also included the Intel Core i7-12700K Alder Lake CPU so you can see the evolution of the “xx700K” CPU SKU across the generations from 12th Gen to 14th Gen on the same Socket LGA1700.
Performance
The Intel Core i7-14700K dominates multi-core/multi-thread performance with the competition and even single-core/thread performance as well according to our benchmarks. The one exception is in lighter threaded workloads or situations where multi-tasking isn’t as demanding, such as PCMark 10 demonstrates. Here, the Intel Core i7-14700K was about 4% faster than the Ryzen 9 7900X, so in these types of workloads, it is not as advantageous, though it was 9% faster than the 12700K.
Where it starts to sing is when testing highly multi-threaded benchmarks, for example 3DMark max-threads test shows the 14700K beating the 7900X by 15%. Compared to the 12700K it was 48% faster, which is pretty large, and compared to the 7700X it is 65% faster. We also saw this replicated in Geekbench 6 where the 14700K was 14% faster than the 7900X and 26% faster than the 12700K and 34% faster than the 7700X. It was also faster in single-core performance in these benchmarks also, with being 7% faster than the 7900X and 7700X in 3DMark and 14% faster than the 12700K.
The Intel Core i7-14700K continued to dominate in the rendering tests as well, with the 14700K being 23% faster than the Ryzen 9 7900X in Cinebench. It was also 59% faster than the 12700K offering a huge jump over Alder Lake and of course, destroying the 7700X at 82% faster. The 14700K also had a strong performance in single-core performance in Cinebench at 7% faster than the 7900X and 9% faster than the 7700X and 14% faster than the 12700K.
Blender was naturally stronger on the Intel Core i7-14700K being 15% faster than the 7900X and 58% faster than the 12700K. In every scene, the 14700K had a significant advantage over the 7900X. We also saw a difference in V-Ray 5 with the 14700K being 8% faster than the 7900X here, and 55% faster than the 12700K. In video transcoding, using HandBrake, the 14700K was a clear winner, offering huge gains over the 7900X and a big jump over the 12th Gen.
Gaming was also very strong on the Intel Core i7-14700K, with its gaming performance mostly beating every other CPU at 1440p and 1080p. It simply provided extreme competition to the Ryzen 7 7800X3D in terms of performance. In Starfield the 14700K was 15% faster than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D at 1080p. Where the 7800X3D ran into a bottleneck, the 14700K did not do as badly in this game. It was also a big 20% faster than the 12700K in this game. In Counter Strike 2 the 7800X3D and 14700K were closer by percentage, but still 20FPS apart at 1080p with the 14700K taking the lead. Even in Cyberpunk 2077, the 14700K was a couple of FPS faster.
In Metro Exodus the 14700K also edged out the 7800X3D by 3% at 1080p, and 6% over the 12700K. Dying Light 2 was the only game where the Ryzen 7 7800X3D outperformed the 14700K at 1440p and 1080p by 8%. The 14700K was faster than the 12700K though by a good margin, by 6% at 1440p and 12% at 1080p. The 12700K ran into a bottleneck here, but the 14700K handled it better. In CoD MW2 it was a wash really, with just a small difference.
Final Points
It is clear to us that the Intel Core i7-14700K actually lines up with, and competes with, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X compared to any other AMD CPU. Though you might be inclined to look at it compared to the Ryzen 7 7700X or Ryzen 7 7800X3D, its performance is competitive with that of the Ryzen 9 7900X.
The Intel Core i7-14700K’s strong point is its multi-core/multi-thread performance full stop. But, actually, that’s not all. It also had a strong point with its single-core/single-thread performance as well. This CPU does have a very strong handle on single-core/thread performance, and this is backed up in our synthetic benchmarks, and our gaming performance benchmarks.
The Intel Core i7-14700K impressed us with its strong gaming performance, providing competitive performance to even the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D for gaming. At the resolutions you’ll be playing at, even with high-end GPUs, the Intel Core i7-14700K provides similar, or better, performance compared to the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. The clock speed boost the 14700K has gained, is advantageous for gaming performance.
In addition, the Intel Core i7-14700K will blow the 7800X3D away on anything multi-core/thread-related, or even in lightly threaded applications. The 7800X3D has a clock deficit due to the 3D-VCache, plus fewer cores/threads. The Intel Core i7-14700K offers an enthusiast experience in both gaming and workloads doing everyday tasks or heavy multi-threaded tasks.
This performance, however, does have a cost, and that is power. The Intel Core i7-14700K is a power hog compared to the Ryzen 9 7900X for example. The Ryzen 9 7900X is going to get you closer to Intel Core i7-14700K performance, but save you 35% energy to do so, it’s close and uses a lot less power. There is no doubt that the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is more efficient than the Intel Core i7-14700K, but there is also no doubt it’s slower.
Therefore, you have to decide if the higher power demand is worth the performance advantage in desktop workloads/content creation, and gaming compared to saving some energy and getting a bit less performance. The price differences will also make an impact, so be sure to check out the pricing widget for the latest prices.
At the end of the day, the Intel Core i7-14700K is an impressive CPU for this generation. Its increase in E-cores makes a difference, and its increase in clock speed makes a difference, but that also comes with a huge demand for energy to get it there. We are impressed with its performance, it’s naturally going to be a better value than the Intel Core i9-14900K, and we would argue the Intel Core i7-14700K is really all the chip you need.
