Intel’s new Raptor Lake Refresh Core i9-14900KS: a 24-core processor for enthusiasts
Intel has officially launched and started selling its top-tier 24-core processor, Core i9-14900KS, as part of the Raptor Lake Refresh series. The new flagship stands out with its support for automatic overclocking to achieve higher clock speeds and a higher nominal TDP compared to the regular Core i9-14900K model.
Price and comparison
Specially designed for enthusiasts, the Core i9-14900KS’s price tag reflects its status, costing $689, which is $100 more than the regular Core i9-14900K. However, the new product is $10 cheaper than the Core i9-13900KS (Raptor Lake) model and $50 cheaper than the Core i9-12900KS (Alder Lake).
Specifications
Like its Core i9-14900K counterpart, the Core i9-14900KS offers the same 8 performance P-cores and 16 power-efficient E-cores. The key differences between the processors lie in their frequencies and power consumption. The KS version offers automatic overclocking on one or two cores up to 6.2 GHz with the support of Thermal Velocity Boost technology, which is 200 MHz higher than the Core i9-14900K. The new model has a declared TDP (Processor Base Power or base power) of 150 W, 25 W higher than the regular chip. The Maximum Turbo Power (MTP) stays unchanged at 253 W.
The chip reaches 6.2 GHz on one or two cores only if its temperature remains below 70 degrees Celsius. Thanks to the Turbo Boost Max 3.0 technology, the new processor’s P-cores can operate 100 MHz faster than the regular Core i9-14900K. The same applies to the E-cores. The chip is compatible with motherboards with Intel Z690 and Z790 chipsets and supports DDR4 or DDR5 memory, depending on the motherboard configuration.
Performance
At the time of publication, only Tom’s Hardware had reviewed the new processor. Their tests indicate that the Ryzen 7 7800X3D still outperforms in gaming (based on average resolution in 1080p). Moreover, it’s $300 cheaper than Intel’s new product. Compared to Core i9-14900K, the KS version is 25% more expensive but only offers 1.7% boost in performance.
Look ahead
Core i9-14900KS is likely to be the last processor for the LGA 1700 platform, as Intel plans to transition to the new LGA 1851 platform in the second half of this year. The new platform will be needed for the upcoming Arrow Lake series processors. Considering this, purchasing the Core i9-14900KS doesn’t appear advantageous, especially against the backdrop of competitive solutions from AMD.
