Intel® Core™ i9-14900KF New Gaming Desktop Processor 24 cores (8 P-cores + 16 E-cores) – Unlocked

6.2GHZ 8200mts cl38 Daily Driver.
This professional CPU isn’t designed for the average user. However, if you’re a tinkerer at heart, eager to dive deeper than the surface-level information often presented in YouTube “videos” (or should we say, commercials), this is unquestionably for you. I’ve acquired multiple units for various builds/configurations from a wide array of retailers—Best Buy, Newegg, and others included.For those considering making a purchase, I highly recommend using an Apex/Apex Encore MOBO or another reputable 2 DIMM board, particularly for AM5 or LGA1700, if overclocking is your goal. A high-quality cooler is crucial; for those opting for an AIO, ensure it includes at least an 8th gen Asetek pump and a 360 Thickboy copper radiator with performance fans—Avoid the aesthetically pleasing but functionally inferior Lian Li reversed SL Infinity Fans. Genuine static pressure fans, capable of efficiently doing the job, are what you need. Despite what your favorite YouTuber might suggest, you should prioritize efficiency over aesthetics.When selecting DDR5, opt for GOOD BINNED options. If a high-binned QVL compatible set isn’t your choice, at a minimum, go for HYNIX A for single rank and HYNIX M for dual rank.The 14900K, when expertly tuned, becomes a gaming and multitasking powerhouse—achieving 43 to 44k in R23, with 6.2GHz boosting, 5.9GHz across its 8 physical cores and 8 threads, and 16 physical e-cores at 4.7GHz for a total of 32 threads, of which only 8 are virtual. With hyper-threading and e-cores enabled, it supports 8200 to 8400 MTS CL38 DDR5 RAM, boasts sub-55ns bus latency, and sub-9.3ns FWL. It’s a marvel in Aida64 full, minus SSD, burn-in stress test stability. Adjusting all cores down to 5.8 and boosting to 6.0 can further reduce bus latency to easily below 50ns…Did I mention overall CPU temperatures typically remain between 35 to 40°C under heavy gaming loads, rarely exceeding 50°C? Despite the capability of 3 EATX connections to easily deliver over 400W of power, I’d advise against exceeding 325W daily, as the performance gains beyond this point are minimal without extreme overclocking and cooling methods—increased voltage requirements could significantly shorten the lifespan of your CPU. For tinkerers, this CPU is a dream come true.As of this date—4-4-2024: We anticipate future silicon manufacturing constraints will evolve, but that’s a discussion for another time.The X3D Elephant in the room: Don’t worry, I own one, and this is about science, not purchase bias…We’ll sidestep intricate discussions about CLDO, FCLK, and MCLK concerns, and why the substantial L3 cache has become an essential workaround for the instability caused by chiplet-based IMC in handling DDR5 for gamers. If the augmentation of the L3 cache wasn’t primarily to address DDR5 issues stemming from the chiplet design, why not significantly enhance and accelerate the L1 cache? The design doesn’t allow for it since it’s not monolithic, which wouldn’t be practical. Those well-versed in the subject matter understand this. While chiplets represent the future, we must acknowledge that this future hasn’t fully materialized for every aspect of computing, allowing us to look beyond the “normie YouTuber AMD cults.”Indeed, I own a 7800X3D build and absolutely adore it! It excels in gaming… primarily in GAMING! Thus, there’s no cause for concern. Let’s briefly touch on the “benefits” like reduced thermals and supposed platform longevity (as if motherboard chipset upgrades and advancements in power delivery methods don’t occur… humor me, over the planned 6 years). I, too, long for Z390 features on my Z790 board (/end sarcasm), not to mention the potential for longer boot times when tinkering with DDR5 or PBO, or even under normal conditions, and texture stutter/tearing… oops, and all those other delightful topics Lisa tends to highlight without addressing the influence of influencers with communications degrees rather than computer science degrees. Just having fun, do what you love!I don’t blame Amazon, Intel, AMD, or Nvidia more than the other. Manufacturing and shipping issues happen. The chip I received from Amazon didn’t meet my expectations, but my other purchases have been exceptional. By chance alone, the other four 14900Ks I’ve received from various distributors have been stellar!Note:Settings in pictures are daily driven….No stability concerns all AIDIA 64 Stress tested for multiple hours and hundreds of gaming/workload hours. I can get bus latency down to under 50NS but need to decrease core clock to locked 5.8GHZ to stay at safe voltage…. Depends what needs done, either/or is screaming fast even 55ns at that Bandwidth.

So far so good
Currently have had it for two months with no issues. Time will tell. It’s liquid cooled and haven’t really been stretched to its limits.Pro: It’s fast but with an asterisk. About the same level of performance of the i9 14900K but without the added power use and heat.Con 1: Is prone to crashing and instability.Con 2: E-Cores. Slow and worthless. There is a noticeable performance drop with some applications.Pro Tip: At the time of this review, the manufacturer’s warranty has been extended due to the crashing / instability issues on the 13th and 14th gen processors from 3yrs to 5yrs.Would I buy it again? No, not for me personally.

The 14600k arrived brand new sealed in box in perfect condition. This is a wonderful, powerful cpu. Make sure to update motherboard bios and then set VID to static 1.25v and you’re golden. Unfortunately most people don’t know how to do that so that’s on Intel.

I had a second PC running Linux with an i7 12700K, as it provides integrated graphics I didnt need a discrete GPU, and as its unlocked I expected to be able to get a lot out of it. I run heavy multi processs workloads, and so I installed the 12700 and it worked as expected for the first few hours. But, after a few hours the PC would reboot or shutdown due to the CPU hitting 100 degrees and thermal protection kicking in. After a week or so of messing around in the BIOS I did manage to finally get the CPU to be stable. Then I realised on Amazon that Intel CPUs were dropping in price so I bit the bullet and purchased the i9, and I am very glad I did. The i9 CPU stays 20-30 degrees cooler than the 12700k, and sits at 70o hen running very heavy workloads (using all cores at 80-100%), it will chomp away for 24 hours in this state. I haven’t had to change any BIOS settings to get it stable, although obviously buying a K processor means I will start tinkering with it soon enough. All this is to say that the processing is 30% more performant with my use cases, and the CPU runs 30 degrees cooler. I am extremely happy I bought this, and now the Intel stability issues are resolved (BIOS firmware causing excess voltage) I would recommend this chip to everyone who wants a hevy workload CPU. I do also have a AMD 7950x in another machine and I dont see much performance differrence between them. If anything, the Intel chip boots to OS 10 times faster than the AMD, and it also supports more PCIe Gen 5 lanes, so if I was to choose I would get the Intel.