Intel Core i5-14600K

The Intel Core i9-14900K and Core i5-14600K are incredible processors, but the high power and cooling requirements means these chips aren't quite the hot commodity that your temperature sensor may be suggesting.

The Core i5 14600K as it stands is an attractive choice for gamers, striking a balance between speed and affordability when paired with even a high-end graphics card. This processor promises proper performance with some more to spare. Its tweakability was impressive, and gaming performance even with an RTX 4090 was spot on. These precisely are the features sought after by tech and gaming afficionados. The inclusion of 8 E cores enhances its multi-threading capacity in relation to creator and streaming workloads whereas the six P cores are paramount for gaming.

Our overclocking experience on the Core i5-14600K was fantastic. Thanks to the unlocked multiplier and the low base heat output, we could increase the voltage by quite a bit, which let us reach an impressive 5.7 GHz on all P-Cores. This gives a nice boost to the 14600K, and it's able to challenge much more powerful processors as long as thread counts are low enough.

The Intel Core i5-14600K is near-indistinguishable from the Core i5-13600K in benchmark results. It's a fine-performing processor in its price class, but we see little reason to buy it if the 13th Gen model is available for less.

The Intel Core i5-14600K is the latest Raptor Lake CPU, and it sports higher clock speeds than last year's model. It's a straight-up refresh, though, and you won't miss out on anything if you're already on a 13th-generation CPU.

The Intel Core i5 14600K falls short of reaching its rightful place as the midrange CPU champion, not because of its specifications, but because it simply doesn’t push the boat out far enough from the previous generation.

The Intel Core i5-14600K might not quite be as gallant an upgrade as we’d hoped, certainly not compared to its older brother, the 13600K. That said it does come with some intriguing new features, such as Intel’s Application Optimization, among others, and performs well across the board. It’s a solid and dependable chip if you’re on a budget, or in dire need of an upgrade and still running an old Intel Core i5-7600K. That said, if you want the absolute latest and greatest, then you might be better off grabbing the 14900K instead.

The Intel Core i5-14600K is technically better than its predecessor, but it's effectively just a minor overclocking of the 13600K with support for discrete Wi-Fi 7 and Thunderbolt 5, which aren't even available yet. And with the release of this chip, the 13600K is going to come down in price, making it the far better value of the two, and the chip I would recommend you buy instead if you must get a cheap Intel chip to hold you over until Meteor Lake drops in 2024.