This week, Intel introduced three overclockable 14th Generation Core 'Raptor Lake Refresh' processors aimed at enthusiasts. However, many people will wait for the cheaper, locked, mainstream 14th Generation Core parts that are months away. Fortunately, well-known leaker ECSM_Official has added benchmark scores of Intel's pre-production Core i3-14100 and Core i5-14600 to the Geekbench 6 database (via @Benchleaks), revealing their specifications and performance.
Judging by the listed specifications, Intel's Core i3-14100 and Core i5-14600 are Raptor Lake CPUs that did not gain much compared to their direct 13th-generation predecessors. The Core i3-14100 retained four high-performance Raptor Cove cores, but this time around, they run at 3.50 – 4.70 GHz (up from 3.40 – 4.50 GHz), which is not a big difference. The situation is worse with the Core i5-14600, which retained its 6P + 8E cores configuration, but at 2.70 – 5.20 GHz, this part is slower compared to the Core i5-13600, which runs at 2.70 GHz – 5.30 GHz, at least on paper. The Refreshed part can likely defeat its predecessor by running at high clocks for longer periods, but such periods heavily depend on cooling systems and thus are never guaranteed.
Of course, we are dealing with presumably pre-production hardware, and the specifications of both parts can change. But if the specs are final, then it hardly makes sense to wait for the refreshed parts if you expect tangibly higher performance.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Core i5-14600 | Core i5-13600 | Core i3-14100 | Core i3-13100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General specifications | 6C + 8E | 2.70 – 5.20 GHz | 6C + 8E | 2.70 – 5.30 GHz | 4P | 3.40 - 4.50 GHz | 4P | 3.50 - 4.70 GHz |
| Single-Core | Score | 2785 | 2674 | 2509 | 2444 |
| Multi-Core | Score | 16110 | 15906 | 8881 | 8846 |
| Link | https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/3144307 | https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/2671842 | https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/3144100 | https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/2609672 |
Surprisingly, despite the lower maximum clocks, the new Core i5-14600 is slightly faster than its predecessor both in single-thread and multi-thread workloads, possibly because it operates at higher clocks for longer periods. Meanwhile, the difference between Intel's Core i3-14100 and Core i3-13100 looks negligible.
As it turns out, while Intel's Core i9-14900K, Core i7-14700K, and Core i5-14600K processors with unlocked multipliers prove to be among best CPUs for gaming, but are only faster than their predecessors by slim margins, and their lower-end counterparts are also not going to bring any substantial performance gains.
Of course, we are dealing with presumably pre-production hardware, and the specifications of both parts can change. Furthermore, we have only seen the performance numbers of two CPUs, so we cannot draw any definitive conclusions for now. But if the specs are final, then it hardly makes a lot of sense to wait for the refreshed parts if you expect tangibly higher performance. Still, 14th Generation Core can be faster than their direct predecessors — just only slightly.
