Intel Core i7 14700K review

The release of Intel's Core i7 14700K brings something distinctive and innovative. With the addition of four extra E cores compared to its predecessor, the Core i7 13700K, and a minor speed increment at a slightly increased cost, this new processor stands out among the 14th Gen chips for the next PC build. This model includes eight Performance cores (P cores) and 12 Efficient cores (E cores), marketed at roughly $418 today. Significantly, it only costs a tad bit more than the Core i7 13700K priced at $415, making the latter uncompetitive.

Retaining the Raptor Lake hybrid architecture used in the previous version, 14700K comes equipped with four more E cores and boost processing frequencies of 100–200MHz. The mild acceleration proves effective in gaming, just as evident in other processors within the 14th Gen series. The presence of extra E cores enhances performance in applications needing more processing power, suggesting the value of investing in the added silicon.

P cores are burdened with gaming, given their speed and low latency. Nonetheless, the surplus E cores assist in gaming by either direct game engine involvement or offloading background tasks, making more room for P cores. Intel included an application called Intel Application Optimization (APO) in the 14700K/KF and 14900K/KF models for optimizing E core uses. Yet, its application remains quite limited and does not essentially deliver a breakthrough.

It's worth noting that the 14700K closely matches the more expensive Core i9 14900K in terms of gaming benchmark results in games such as Total War: Three Kingdoms, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Metro: Exodus among others, providing greater value. For instance, you could save $158 by investing in the 14700K rather than the 14900K despite a minor difference in frames per second.

The 14700K is a solid choice if your PC use goes beyond gaming, due to its significant multithreading capabilities proven in Cinebench R23, Blender, and X264 benchmarks. In gaming, the Core i5 14600K shows a similar performance, though for multithreaded capabilities, Intel's 14700K outshines even AMD's potent 3D V Cache contender, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D.

Though the 14700K does not lead in terms of cool running or efficiency, boasting a peak wattage of 253W and an average of over 200W, which is on par with the 14900K, it justifies its value through multithreaded power without compromising gaming performance for its price.