The groundhog greets you every day: After Intel launched the Core i9-12900KS in April 2022 and the Core i9-13900KS in early 2023, around a year later it is not Arrow Lake that follows, but the Core i9-14900KS in the desktop. This final version of the architecture, which began with Alder Lake at the end of 2021, now provides all the superlatives that the platform has to offer: Up to 6.2 GHz single-core boost ex works with a total of 24 cores with the – on paper – highest performance ever in the desktop. Of course, we didn't miss a test and would like to thank Intel for providing the sample. We received a completely repackaged CPU, just like you can buy in stores, including pretty special edition packaging with shiny “silicon” that also included the i9-12900KS and i9-13900KS.
Intel Core i9-14900KS in the test: Overview and technical data
Source: Intel Intel Core i9-14900KS in the test: A prisoner in a golden cage (2)
Intel Core i9-14900KS at a glance: Two P-Cores clock up to 6.2 GHz at low partial load, while all eight P-Cores operate at a maximum of 5.9 GHz at the same time. The 16 E-Cores are also at a very high level at 4.5 GHz. Intel has put the processor base power, which is also known as TDP, at 150 watts, while the power limit 2, which has been the same as the TDP since Alder Lake, works with the usual 253 watts. In addition to the 32 MiByte L2 cache, there is also 36 MiByte Intel Smart Cache (L3). As with all 13th and 14th generation CPUs, Intel specifies RAM support with DDR4-3200 or DDR5-5600. As is well known, the Raptor Lake series still accepts DDR4 memory compared to AMD's Zen 4-based CPUs; after all, the same LGA1700 socket is still used, which means that motherboards from Intel's 600 series remain relevant. 20 PCI Express lanes are still supported, up to 16 (PCI-E-4.0) + 4 (PCI-E-5.0). Essentially an i9-14900KS is an i9-14900K with higher clock speeds.
Source: Intel Intel Core i9-14900KS in the test: A prisoner in a golden cage (3) Intel completes the enthusiast portfolio of the 14th core generation on the 1700 socket. The film also reveals the price, which is said to be 689 US dollars the CPU costs and is therefore 100 USD more expensive than the regular version. In this country we expect prices in the range of 800 euros. Even the predecessor, Core i9-13900KS, currently costs 699 euros from the cheapest provider; Intel still wants around 465 euros for the i9-12900KS. Proud prices for a processor that wants to be better than everyone else.
That's everything you need to know about the processor for now, because apart from the clock speeds and the TDP, nothing has changed from the K model. On the next page we will look at the performance of the 24-core. How high is the performance in games and can AMD be beaten?