Intel has given us some of the best CPUs from its 13th Generation Raptor Lake lineup. As a result, the chipmaker aims to keep the momentum going with the upcoming Raptor Lake Refresh. The Core i9-14900KF, the iGPU-less version of the Core i9-14900K, has surfaced in multiple Geekbench benchmarks that give us a taste of what's to come.
The Core i9-14900K has a similar composition as the Core i9-13900K that it's replacing. The future Raptor Lake Refresh flagship rocks 24 cores and 32 threads in an 8P+16E configuration. In other words, the chip has eight P-cores accompanied by 16 E-cores. The Core i9-14900K is rumored to feature a 200 MHz higher clock speed than the Core i9-13900K regarding the P-cores. Fresh Core i9-14900KF benchmarks (via Benchleaks) have confirmed the early rumors.
Given the leaked specifications, the Core i9-14900K has the potential to deliver similar levels of performance to the special-edition Core i9-13900KS. The new wave of Core i9-14900KF benchmarks provides a general estimate of what kind of performance we can expect from the flagship. Nonetheless, we still recommend you throw a pinch of salt over the numbers, considering there are only two submissions for comparison. The scores for the other processors are from the Geekbench 6 database, which depicts the average performance of all the results for that specific processor. The system specifications for the Core i9-14900K will differ from the other processors. So, that's one aspect to keep in mind when looking at the numbers.
Core i9-14900K, Core i9-14900KF Specifications
| Processor | Price | Cores / Threads (P+E) | P-Core Base / Boost Clock (GHz) | E-Core Base / Boost Clock (GHz) | L3 Cache (MB) | PBP / MTP (W) | Memory |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core i9-14900K / KF* | ? | 24 / 32 (8+16) | 3.2 / 6.0 | ? / 4.4 | 36 | 125 / ? | ? |
| Core i9-13900KS | $699 | 24 / 32 (8+16) | 3.2 / 6.0 | 2.4 / 4.3 | 36 | 150 / 253 | DDR4-3200 / DDR5-5600 |
| Core i9-13900K / KF | $589 (K) - $564 (KF) | 24 / 32 (8+16) | 3.0 / 5.8 | 2.2 / 4.3 | 36 | 125 / 253 | DDR4-3200 / DDR5-5600 |
| Ryzen 7950X3D | $699 | 16 / 32 | 4.2 / 5.7 | N/A | 128 | 120 / 162 | DDR4-3600 / DDR5-5200 |
*Specifications are unconfirmed.
The Core i9-14900KF delivered up to 8.3% higher single-core performance than the Core i9-13900KS. It was also around 13% better than the Core i9-13900K. Regarding multi-core performance, the Core i9-14900K outperformed the Core i9-13900KS by 6.3% and the Core i9-13900K by 15%.
The Core i9-14900KF was faster than the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, the top consumer Ryzen chip on Geekbench 6. The former exhibited 15.3% and 17.2% higher single-core and multi-core performance than the latter.
Despite its recent upgrade, Geekbench 6 isn't the end-all-be-all benchmark for processor comparison. But it's one of the popular sources for hardware performance leaks. Logically, it would be best to always wait for official reviews before choosing sides.
Core i9-14900K, Core i9-14900KF Benchmarks
| Processor | Single-Core Score | Multi-Core Score |
|---|---|---|
| Core i9-14900KF | 3,322 - 3,347 | 22,895 - 23,051 |
| Core i9-13900KS | 3,090 | 21,694 |
| Core i9-13900KF | 2,962 | 20,036 |
| Ryzen 9 7950X3D | 2,904 | 19,663 |
According to the rumor mill, Intel will reportedly launch Raptor Lake Refresh on October 17. Retailers around the globe have already listed the entire Raptor Lake Refresh lineup. As usual, the K-series SKUs, including the Core i9-14900K, Core i7-14700K, and Core i5-14600K, will drop first, and the non-K models will arrive a few months later.
Raptor Lake Refresh pricing, on the other hand, may not be compelling. Leaked MSRPs show up to a 15% price hike on the new 10nm chips. Bearing in mind that the LGA1700 platform is almost out the door, Raptor Lake Refresh will be a hard sell regardless.
