Intel Core i7-14700K price

The Intel Core i7-14700K is available now with an MSRP of $420, however, despite the fact this chip has only been available for a few months, you can occasionally find it discounted to the sub-$400 mark from retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy and Newegg. That's an identical price to the MSRP of the 13700K, although, the first Raptor Lake version is now discounted to around the $350 mark. For how these two CPUs compare we recommend reading our 14700K vs 13700K feature.

Intel Core i7-14700K design and specs

As touched upon above, the Intel Core i7-14700K is once again built on the LGA 1700 socket as a Raptor Lake refresh featuring a total of 20 cores and 28 threads. Specifically, there are eight P-cores and 12 E-cores which is an increase on the 13700K's 16 cores (8P+8E) and 24 threads for four extra E-cores and four extra threads. It's not the most exciting upgrade, however, it should mean slightly increased performance, and considering the identical pricing, that's a solid minor upgrade.

The Intel Core i7-14700K can be pushed up to 5.6 GHz with Turbo Boost enabled. That's an increase of 0.2 Ghz over the 13700K creeping ever closer toward the 6 GHz boost clock of the i9-14900K; this one's not the fastest chipset in the lineup but it should still be plenty fast for gaming, productivity, and creativity tasks. We'll be touching on the single-core and multi-core performance further down the page.

Because the 14700K is a refresh that means it's built on the same LGA 1700 socket so you shouldn't necessarily need one of the best motherboards for gaming if you've already got a compatible mobo. It should be as simple as a BIOS update, and those thinking of upgrading from Alder Lake should benefit the most. We recommend you check your system's compatibility before investing in the chip just to be sure.

Intel Core i7-14700K gaming performance

In the testing conducted by BGFG's Jack Howarth, it's clear that the Intel Core i7-14700K is an incredibly capable processor for gaming, especially when paired with one of the best graphics cards. This is especially evident in titles such as Cyberpunk 2077, CS2, Days Gone, and Sons of the Forest. A good range of older and newer titles of varying optimization states showcases this mid-range chip's prowess. You don't necessarily need a top-end processor for high refresh rates.

Intel Core i7-14700K synthetic performance

It's a similar story with the synthetic performance of the Intel Core i7-14700K with leading numbers especially where multicore tests come in the equation. This is particularly evidenced in Cinebench R23 and Geekbench with strong figures showcasing the prowess of the third-generation hybrid architecture. The last i7 of its kind truly does go out on top, as is evidenced below.

Alternatives to the Intel Core i7-14700K

Alternatives to the Intel Core i7-14700K include the Intel Core i5-14600K which performs similarly and for a cheaper price point from a pure gaming point of view. Over on the red corner, there's the 7800X which is priced similarly and offers slightly better gaming performance at the cost of worse multicore performance.

Conclusion

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a fantastic CPU for gaming with its strong multi-core performance making it ideal for creatives and those looking to also engage in high-end productivity. The last i7 of its kind, before the Arrow Lake equivalent, Intel has gone all out to ensure that this upper mid-range CPU ticks all the right boxes and it should be a confident chipset for many years to come. It's not quite as good as the 14900K but the broad strokes given its price-to-performance make it easy to recommend.

Is the Intel Core i7-14700K worth it?

Yes, the Intel Core i7-14700K is a worthy upgrade for those considering the jump over to LGA 1700 from older Intel or AMD processors, however, those running existing Raptor Lake hardware are going to see less of the benefits overall.

AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D price

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D's pricing is likely going to be one of its most contested things. This high-end chipset is available now with an MSRP of $599 which is about as premium as Zen 4 gets, bridging the gap a little too closely to the more powerful 7950X3D which sells for just $100 at $699. However, that's before because discounts are common on the former in 2024, as you can pick up the 7900X3D for as cheap as $400 from retailers such as Amazon, Newegg, and Best Buy.

A big part of deciding on the 7900X3D is going to be the depth of discount you can find it for. At $400 (or less) it's a far more aggressive buy than its MSRP, especially as regular sales see the 7950X3D available for $599. For comparison sake, the 7900X3D retails for a comparable rate to the Intel Core i9-14900K ($589) at just $10 cheaper going by the retailer's recommended price. I'll be touching on whether the processor justifies its price further down the page, but you must be fully clued up before buying.

AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D key design and features

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D features 12 cores and 24 threads with a base clock speed of 4.4 GHz and a boost clock of up to 5.6 GHz. Unlike its non-3D counterpart, this version features not only a lower 120W TDP (compared to 170W of the original) but also a full 128 MB of L3 cache, of which 64MB is AMD's second-generation 3D V-cache. Essentially, it sits on top of the existing L3 cache and allows the CPU to access and store data on the die it otherwise wouldn't be able to.

As with other Zen 4 chipsets, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D is built upon the TSMC 5nm process with the AM5 socket (LGA 1718) being a massive departure from Team Red's previous generation of hardware on AM4 with PGA. That means, much like with Intel's most recent processors, the 1,718 pins are on the motherboards themselves instead of being on the back of the processor. This may come as quite a surprise to the AMD faithful, but those switching over from Intel should be right at home here.

While it's not unique to the 7900X3D, it's worth mentioning that the Zen 4 chipsets have no support for older DDR4 RAM. That means if you're looking to upgrade your CPU and motherboard then you'll need to swap out your memory as well, meaning the upgrade could be expensive if you haven't already made the jump. This is a bit of a double-edged sword of course. On one hand, you have the extra fast speeds and frequencies of the RAM, but you'll be paying out considerably more for the privilege.

AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D gaming performance

In my testing, I found that the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D works best when it comes to gaming, especially when paired with one of the best graphics cards on the market. My testing rig features the Nvidia RTX 4090 on a Gigabyte X670 Aorus Elite AX motherboard with the NZXT Kraken Elite 360mm AIO, Corsair RM1000x PSU, and Kingston Fury Beast RGB DDR5 RAM clocked at 6000Mhz. With that said, there's nothing here that will bottleneck what the processor can do, and the results are impressive.

AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D synthetic benchmarks

Now, while the 7900X3D excels in terms of its gaming performance thanks to the 3D V-cache stacked on top of the large L3 cache, the synthetic performance is respectable, but quite not leading as the non-3D variant with its higher power draw. All the same, these are strong figures in the likes of our industry-standard tests such as CPU Z, Cinebench R23, and Geekbench. This is evidenced when comparing the figures to the Intel Core i9-14900K and Intel Core i9-13900K which pull ahead with their extra cores and threads. If you're in the market for a creator-first chip, the 7900X3D shouldn't be your first choice.

Conclusion

As far as gaming desktop processors go, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D impresses but it's not quite the catch-all solution for productivity and creative workloads, especially for its MSRP which is comparable to the 14900K and older 13900K. With that said, the benefits of the next-gen AMD architecture are obvious, as the second-generation 3D V-cache allows for extreme performance for gamers at a lower TDP overall. If you can find it on sale then I recommend it, but if you're looking for more of a workhorse chip, you may want to consider an alternative.

Alternatives to the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D

The biggest alternatives to the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D are the 7900X and 7950X3D. The former can do more for creatives with its higher power draw, and the latter features a total of 16 cores and 32 threads for even better gaming performance for just $100 more (though also frequently discounted). As touched upon above, those wanting a balance of gaming and creativity may be better served by the Intel Core i9-14900K or the older Intel Core i9-13900K which offer better results in our synthetic testing.

Is the Ryzen 9 7900X3D worth it?

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D offers excellent gaming performance but its high price tag and less-than-stellar creativity benchmarks mean it's not quite the catch-all CPU for everyone when compared to the similarly priced 7950X or Intel Core i9-14900K. However, if you can find it at a discount then it's well worth the price of investment around the $400 mark.

Intel Core i9-13900K price

The Intel Core i9-13900K carries an MSRP of $589 since its release but that's only one side of the story. That's because this enthusiast-level chipset is available discounted frequently in 2024 down to around $520 from retailers such as Amazon and Newegg, saving you $60. For context, that's the same pricing as the previous iteration, the i9-12900K, which also uses the same socket.

In terms of its rivals, the closest competition with the Intel Core i9-13900K is the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D which you can find for $599, slightly more expensive than Team Blue's premiere offering. Whether the discount is enough to sway you away from the more recent Intel Core i9-14900K will depend on your usage case. At the time of writing, the most recent flagship has yet to receive any kind of offers to the same extent.

Intel Core i9-13900K key design

As mentioned above, the Intel Core i9-13900K is once again built for the pre-existing LGA 1700 socket instead of switching up socket types. It's the second generation hybrid architecture processor meaning it's running a combination of E-cores (efficiency cores) and P-cores (performance cores) for better power optimization. Speaking of, the 13900K features a total of 24 cores (eight P-cores and 16 E-cores) as well as 24 threads for a truly leading amount when compared to its competition.

That extends to the base and boost clock speeds as well. The Intel Core i9-13900K is capable of boosting up to 5.8 Ghz straight out of the box which was unheard of back then. That's since been outdone by the 14900K (6 GHz) and the brand-new 14900KS (6.2 GHz) but we're still talking about an incredibly fast chipset all the same. There's also 36MB of L3 cache to aid processor-intensive tasks such as gaming and rendering as the largest, but slowest cache type on the silicon.

It's clear that the Intel Core i9-13900K is still more than competitive when it comes to powering today's games

An advantage that Intel's 13th Gen frontrunner has over its most recent rival chipsets is the fact that this i9 processor can utilize both DDR4 and DDR5 RAM. While an enthusiast is likely to want the higher speeds afforded by the latter, the option of having both supported shouldn't be shrugged off, especially if you're upgrading your PC bit by bit, saving you money as you go. With its 125W TDP, this processor is at the upper end of power usage, but still a good way behind the 170W of AMD's Zen 4 non-3D lineup.

Intel Core i9-13900K gaming performance

In the testing conducted by WePC's Jack Howarth, it's clear that the Intel Core i9-13900K is still more than competitive when it comes to powering today's games. This is most evident in titles such as Cyberpunk 2077, Resident Evil Village, CS2, and Days Gone. Provided you have one of the best graphics cards you shouldn't notice any kind of bottleneck.

Our test system is running the i9-13900K with an ASUS ROG Ryujin II 360mm AIO CPU cooler on an ASUS ROG Maximus Z970 Extreme motherboard with 16GB DDR5 RAM @ 5600 MHz with the Fractal Design ION+860W PSU.

Intel Core i9-13900K synthetic benchmarks

It's a similar story with the synthetic performance through our industry-standard suite of benchmarking tools such as CPU Z, Cinebench R23, and Geekbench with strong figures for single-core but especially powerful multi-core performance. We've got the full details down below.

When stress-testing we noticed that the Intel Core i9-13900K actually got up to and beyond 100° even with a 360mm AIO installed. While it's unlikely you will notice this level of heat dissipation when gaming or rendering, it's worth investing in one of the best CPU coolers for 13900K in case. Don't skimp on the cooling, and we don't recommend an air cooler here either.

Conclusion

Even well over a year after its release, the Intel Core i9-13900K remains a powerful chip when paired with either Z690 or Z790 motherboards and should be a decent upgrade from Alder Lake or those coming over from pre-LGA 1700 boards. If you're after max frame rates in today's games then the chipset has proven its worth especially when twined with the likes of the RTX 4080 Super and RTX 4090.

Generation-on-generation, the performance gains are notable over 12th-gen processors as Raptor Lake excels with its higher core count and higher frequency clock speeds, but there's a major caveat. That's the fact that it was released back in 2022 and we've already had a successor, the 14900K, come in and excel past what this chipset can do in terms of maximum turbo power, single-core performance, and multi-core performance as our Intel Core i9-14900K vs Intel Core i9-13900K feature goes into.

Is the Intel Core i9-13900K worth it?

As far as desktop processors go, the Intel Core i9-13900K is incredibly powerful but we would argue it's only worth choosing over the newer Intel Core i9-14900K if you can find it at a substantial discount. While it's no longer the flagship CPU it once was, there's no faulting the performance it offers for the money, just be sure to utilize one of the best CPU coolers to keep those core temps in check.

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D price

Here's the factor that's going to alienate people the fastest - the price tag. As touched upon above the Zen 4 flagship doesn't come cheap with its MSRP of $699 being around $100 more than the Intel Core i9-14900K but around $30 cheaper than the recently released Intel Core i9-14900KS. Compared to the previous generation, the 5950X at $799 at release, this processor doesn't seem quite as unwieldy.

There's something of a silver lining, however, and that's time. That's because the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D has been available for a year meaning regular discounts are commonplace now; it's entirely possible to find this chipset available hovering around the $570 mark through retailers such as Amazon. While that's still at the premium end of the spectrum, when discounted, that makes this chipset cheaper than its main rival, so that's something to consider when weighing up your options.

Then we get onto the fact that the 7950X, and all Zen 4 chipsets in general, only support DDR5 RAM as standard. You'll be paying extra for a RAM upgrade, not to mention a new motherboard for the new AM5 socket, if you're trading up from an older AM4 rig. Depending on the age of your current components, that's going to mean shelling out a pretty penny for top-end performance however you slice it, albeit, with little in the way of bottlenecks provided you've got one of the best GPUs.

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D key design

We've touched on this above but it's worth highlighting separately and that's the fact that the Ryzen 9 7950X is built on the Zen 4 architecture with the new AM5 socket. This is the first time in eight years that AMD has moved away from its previous PGA sockets and instead embraced LGA. Whereas previous AMD Ryzen chipsets would feature pins on the back to be slotted into the socket, the 7950X is smooth, with all the pins being held on the AM5 (LGA 1718) socket itself, much like with Intel's processors.

The Ryzen 9 7950X3D features a total of 16 cores and 32 threads with a base clock speed of 4.2 GHz and a boost clock speed of up to 5.7 GHz with its 120W TDP. That's the same amount of cores and threads as well as clock speeds as its predecessor, the 7950X, albeit with less of a power draw when compared to that chip's 170W TDP. Despite the change of socket, you'll be able to utilize any of your existing AM4-compatible coolers as the brackets remain identical, so the best CPU coolers should work fine.

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D gaming performance

It's clear to see why the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D reigns ahead as evidenced by the testing conducted by WePC's Jack Howarth. Owing to the second-generation 3D V-cache, the Zen 4 flagship chip displayed outstanding figures in the likes of CS2, Cyberpunk 2077, Days Gone, and Monster Hunter World when paired up with the RTX 4070 Ti Super and 64GB Dominator Titanium RAM clocked at 6,400 MHz. The full results are below.

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D synthetic benchmarks

Where the non-3D variant of this chipset may pull ahead is in the synthetic benchmarks owing to its higher power draw. However, that's not to say that the 7950X3D pulls any punches in our suite of industry-standard tests, though. These are still leading figures in the likes of Geekbench, Cinebench R23, and CPU Z showcasing high multi-core core performance with single-core testing being nearly as strong.

Conclusion

So long as you have PCIe 5.0 compliant components in your PC, you should be able to max out software with relative ease thanks to the specs powering the 7950X3D. Its second-generation 3D V-cache and high clock speed frequencies mean it's able to produce some leading figures on the AM5 platform with lower power consumption. As the frames evidenced in titles such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Monster Hunter World show, this is the hardware you want when it comes to all things gaming.

The Zen 4 line of chipsets have been impressive since their launch, especially when paired with an equally capable graphics card, but that 170W TDP has meant you'll need some serious cooling. As the synthetic single-core performance and multi-core performance show, you can squeeze just as much out while running a little cooler. Overclockers are going to be able to push the boost frequency, too, and while it may not be as impressive out of the box as Intel's Raptor Lake refresh in terms of raw power, its utilization is arguably more impressive.

Alternatives to the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D

If you're considering an alternative processor then we recommend the standard 7950X as the direct competitor. However, should you want to switch gears to Team Blue, the Intel Core i9-14900K is similarly priced and offers strong gaming performance further bolstered by its higher core and thread count.

Is the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D worth it?

If you want bleeding-edge performance and have the money to back it up then the 7950X3D is worth the price of investment. The added 3D V-cache may not work with older titles but for the software that can unlock its potential, you'll see great improvements in games as more developers become familiar with optimizing for L3 cache, especially when factoring in the lower 120W TDP. However, if you're considering a processor for more creator and productivity-led tasks, you'll be better off with the non-3D variant.

AMD Ryzen 9 5900X price

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X has been on the shelves for some time, originally released back in November 2020, coinciding with the launch of Team Red's RX 6000 GPU series. At release, it carried an MSRP of $549, however, you can now pick it up as cheap as $300 (or less) given the fact that it runs on the AM4 socket, which has since been replaced by the Ryzen 9 7900X from 2022. That positions this once-flagship processor as a serious value-for-money proposition.

AMD Ryzen 9 5900X key specs

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is a socket AM4 CPU as the last of the PGA chipsets made by Team Red before adopting LGA with AM5. It's built on the Zen 3 architecture and boasts 12 cores and 24 threads with a base clock speed of 3.7 GHz and a boost clock up to 4.8 GHz. It's especially power efficient compared to its successors with a respective 105W TDP, too. There's also a total of 64MB L3 cache onboard, too.

Team Red was smart to keep this chipset generation utilizing the AM4 socket which has been out since early 2017, meaning that many motherboards should support the chip swap. However, this will depend on the age of your mobo and whether you can update the bios or not, so do read into the compatibility if you're running a 3000 series or older. Luckily, existing coolers should fit so you're all good if you're considering one of the best CPU coolers.

AMD Ryzen 9 5900X key design

In terms of design, the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is in keeping with the rest of the AM4 socket processors. Specifically, it's a PGA 1331 chipset, containing a total of 1,331 pins on the underside of the processor which must be carefully inserted into the socket. It would be best if you were especially careful not to bend any pins when installing. There's support for DDR RAM but no DDR5 RAM, meaning you'll need to upgrade again if you want the faster memory type, too.

there's no real bottlenecking to speak of in modern games thanks to the 12 cores and 24 threads which are well-utilized in terms of both single-core and multi-core performance

The 5900X is built on a 7nm process by TSMC with support or 3200 MHz memory. While it's unlikely to be a problem for anyone with one of the best GPUs, this chipset does not feature any kind of integrated graphics (iGPU) onboard. That means you'll need to hook it up to a dedicated video card from the jump, such as the RX 7600 XT or better.

AMD Ryzen 9 performance

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X may have been released well over three years ago but it's still not some power where it counts. In the testing conducted by WePC's Jack Howarth, this processor had no trouble in achieving high frame rates with gaming performance and some respectable figures when benched with our industry-standard tools. Check out the gaming benchmarks for the full story.

As you can see from the figures above, there's no real bottlenecking to speak of in modern games thanks to the 12 cores and 24 threads which are well-utilized in terms of both single-core and multi-core performance. However, it is outperformed by the 5800X3D thanks to its V-cache.

Now we can move on to the synthetic benchmarks to see how the chipset holds its own when put under stress. While these figures have been bettered by some Zen 4 chips that have come after, there's no disputing that these are some strong figures even over three years after its initial introduction.

Thanks to the chipset's low 105W TDP, you should be able to get a fairly reserved AIO or a high-quality air cooler. In terms of bottlenecks, there aren't any that are necessarily CPU-bound right now but this could change in the years to come. The one thing that may stump you is the lack of support for DDR5 RAM or PCIe 5.0 Gen 5 SSDs, so you're lagging behind the current leading options.

Conclusion

The Ryzen 5000 series may not be as high-end a platform as it once was in your PC but there's little it will struggle against even in 2024. The 12-core and 24-thread setup still shows gains over Intel Core previous versions at a similar price point for gamers. At the end of the day, it all comes down to which graphics card you are running to pair with the workloads. Despite being limited in headroom on PCIe 4.0, unlike the new Zen 4 chipsets, a bios update should mean a substantial upgrade if coming from an older CPU.

Enthusiasts are likely going to want the newest series processors thanks to the added bandwidth of higher clock speeds, but for most people, the 5000 series flagship should still be enough for content creators and gamers as our test setup shows. It's no longer the best gaming CPU you can buy, but with its discounted price, it offers a ton of power for the money.

Is the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X worth it?

Yes, the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is still an excellent CPU for gaming and productivity even in 2024 thanks to its 12 cores and 24 threads. While it may not have support for pricier DDR5 RAM or PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSDs, you should have no problem keeping up with the latest titles for several years to come.

Copy by Aleksha McLoughlin ; Testing by Jack Howarth