Intel 14 th Gen

 Intel has officially unveiled its 14th-generation desktop processors, which, compared to previous generations, offer relatively minor upgrades. Unlike previous launches that introduced significant improvements, such as the 12th-generation Alder Lake CPUs, this iteration from Intel is more iterative and less thrilling. However, the positive news for budget-conscious PC builders is that the 14th-gen CPUs are compatible with existing 600- and 700-series motherboards with a BIOS update, eliminating the need for new motherboard purchases. Despite the lack of compelling reasons to upgrade from a 12th-gen setup, the option is still available for those interested.

Interestingly, Intel has chosen to designate these processors with a throwback branding, in contrast to its other chips. In an effort to simplify its product lineup, Intel is moving away from the generational nomenclature, as well as the i3/i5/i7/i9 branding, towards a unified "Core" and "Core Ultra" branding. This shift reflects the similarity of the 14th-gen chips to their 13th- and 12th-gen predecessors. Regarding the technical details, the 13th-generation refresh introduced minor but notable changes to the architecture, including increased E-cores, additional L2 and L3 cache, and slight clock speed improvements for the high-end chips. The power budgets also saw slight increases. However, for lower-end chips, specifically the non-overclockable i5 and lower tiers, the Alder Lake architecture remained largely unchanged, with only a few E-cores added and clock speeds boosted without altering the silicon. In terms of the 14th-generation CPUs, they essentially mirror the Raptor Lake refresh, with no additional E-cores, cache, memory speed support, or changes in power requirements. The base and turbo clock speeds across the P- and E-cores have been increased by 100 or 200 MHz, but other specifications remain unchanged, including the integrated Intel UHD 770 GPU. Intel has launched six unlocked and overclockable processors today, following its usual top-down approach. This includes three K-series CPUs with integrated GPUs and three KF-series CPUs without GPUs, which are priced $25 lower. Here are the specifications and launch prices for the new CPUs: - Core i9-14900K: $589 (or $564 without integrated GPU) - P/E-Cores: 8P/16E - Clocks (Base/Boost): 3.2/6.0 GHz (P), 2.4/4.4 GHz (E) - Total Cache (L2+L3): 68MB (32 + 36) - Base/Max Power: 125/253 W - Core i9-13900K: $589 (or $564 without integrated GPU) - P/E-Cores: 8P/16E - Clocks (Base/Boost): 3.0/5.8 GHz (P), 2.2/4.3 GHz (E) - Total Cache (L2+L3): 68MB (32 + 36) - Base/Max Power: 125/253 W - Core i7-14700K: $409 (or $384 without integrated GPU) - P/E-Cores: 8P/12E - Clocks (Base/Boost): 3.4/5.6 GHz (P), 2.5/4.3 GHz (E) - Total Cache (L2+L3): 61MB (28 + 33) - Base/Max Power: 125/253 W - Core i7-13700K: $409 (or $384 without integrated GPU) - P/E-Cores: 8P/8E - Clocks (Base/Boost): 3.4/5.4 GHz (P), 2.5/4.2 GHz (E) - Total Cache (L2+L3): 54MB (24 + 30) - Base/Max Power: 125/253 W - Core i5-14600K: $289 (or $264 without integrated GPU) - P/E-Cores: 6P/8E - Clocks (Base/Boost): 3.5/5.3 GHz (P), 2.6/4.0 GHz (E) - Total Cache (L2+L3): 44MB (24 + 20) - Base/Max Power: 125/150 W - Core i5-13600K: $319 (or $294 without integrated GPU) - P/E-Cores: 6P/8E - Clocks (Base/Boost): 3.5/5.1 GHz (P), 2.6/3.9 GHz (E) - Total Cache (L2+L3): 44MB (24 + 20) - Base/Max Power: 125/181 W