Introduction
CES 2024 is underway, and we are on the ground floor finding you all the latest, hottest news updates for launches. Today, Intel is making some announcements with new high-performance 14th Gen HX Mobile Series processors for laptops. It is also announcing a new Intel Core Mobile Processor Series 1 (U Series), and even some lower-power 14th Gen Desktop CPUs! Let’s dive right into the information, starting below with some high-performance 14th Gen laptop CPUs in the high-end.
Intel Core Processors – HX Mobile 14th Gen
Starting in the mobile space, one of the first things Intel is announcing at CES 2024 is the introduction of its 14th Gen HX Mobile line of CPUs that you will find in laptops. These are “Raptor Lake Refresh” CPUs, refreshing from the previous 13th Gen Raptor Lake generation to now the 14th Gen Raptor Lake Refresh in the mobile space. This is similar to what we saw on the desktop CPU side of things, but now this is the laptop’s 14th Gen refresh, yes laptops get a refresh, but there will not solely be Meteor Lake in 2024.
These CPUs offer extreme performance in the 55W TDP realm, which will allow them to push performance as much as possible in the mobile space. These are your high-powered laptop CPUs, for when you want to get some real work done on the go.
The HX Mobile processors can achieve clock speed boosts of up to 5.8GHz, in mobile, so frequency is increased from 13th Gen. In addition, they bring the latest technologies like Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth LE Audio, and Thunderbolt 5 on select models. They are built on the Intel 7 process technology and the Intel Core i7 SKUs have higher E-cores for more multi-threading performance. These CPUs support PCIe Gen 5.0 and Gen 4.0 as well as DDR5 and DDR4. They will run across the DMI at x8 Gen4 speeds. They will offer extreme expandability with up to 14x USB2, and 10x USB3 in x16 PCIe 4.0 and x12 PCIe 3.0. With discrete support, you can get up to Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 support.
One thing, which is very interesting in the mobile space is the ability for overclocking in the 14th Gen HX Mobile series. By utilizing Intel Extreme Tuning Utility you will find a 1-click optimizer for overclocking and also has per core thermal throttle control that is configurable. These systems also take into account and support XMP profile SODIMMs.
In Intel’s performance charts, it puts the Intel Core 14th Gen i9-14900HX up against the AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX for comparisons. In these gaming titles that it shows, we see a general uplift in performance over the AMD comparison in almost every game, only a few on the left are the same or slower. Intel also shows the i9-14900HX against the Ryzen 9 7945HX3D in several games. Intel again shows mostly a gain in performance, though there are a few where it’s even, it does depend on the game. Looking closer at the 99th percentile low results, Intel shows a marked improvement in a higher consistent framerate.
One technology that we first heard about when the 14th Gen Desktop CPUs launched, is the new Intel Application Optimization (APO) policy that can run within the Intel Dynamic Tuning Technology (DTT) framework. When supported by motherboards, and games, this can potentially improve performance. These are profiles that Intel has to configure per game.
Initially, the support was quite low, with only two games supporting the Desktop CPUs, Rainbow Six: Siege and Metro Exodus. Well, here at CES 2024 Intel is announcing additional APO Enabled Titles, such as F1 22, Strange Brigade, World War Z, Dirt 5, and World of Warcraft. It is interesting, that most of these titles are older games, and not the newest, or latest AAA games. At any rate, the new 14th Gen HX Mobile CPUs can also benefit from this technology.
Productivity is also improved over the AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX. Intel shows performance gains in every system benchmark or productivity benchmark, with performance exceeding the Ryzen 9 7945HX. Intel is splitting laptops into categories, on one side you have your performance-optimized laptops where the HX series mobile CPUs live, and on the other side a greater focus is put on battery life where the H-series mobile CPUs live. Intel has established many partners and laptop designs supporting the new HX Processor Family.
In the above chart, you can see the entire Intel Core 14th Gen HX Processor lineup. At the top you will find the i9-14900HX with 8 P-cores and 16 E-cores for 32 threads, offering up to 5.8GHz. Each of these CPUs has a base power of 55W. Below that is the i7-14700HX with 8 P-cores and 12 E-cores at up to 5.5GHz. Below that is the i7-14650HX with 8 P-cores and 8 E-cores up to 5.2GHz. Below that are two i5 HX CPUs with 6 P-cores and either 8 E-cores or 4 E-cores.