Intel ’s freshly releasedCore i9 - 14900KSprocessor is advertised as thefastest CPUin the human race , but does that entail AMD can never go for to compete , even with its flagshipRyzen 9 7950X3D ? Not at all . Each CPU has its merits , and both are insanely powerful in their own right field . At this terms stop and at this performance level , give the right choice is tricky .

Let ’s soar in and find out how the Core i9 - 14900KS and the Ryzen 9 7950X3D stack up against each other , what they excel at , and which one is the good option to bribe .

Pricing and availability

Intel ’s Core i9 - 14900KS was announce on March 14 , 2024 , and it off the shelves on that same day . It arrived as a follow - up toIntel ’s Raptor Lakerefresh , making it a replacement not only to the Core i9 - 14900 K , but mainly to the Core i9 - 13900KS . It only pick out Intel a few months to replace its previous flagship , seeing as the Core i9 - 14900 K launched in October 2023 . A cool aura product through and through , the KS adaptation launched later than the rest of the lineup as a product aimed at enthusiasts who would n’t recoil at the $ 690 price rag .

Much like Intel direct a act of a breathing spell before gain the world with this monstrous CPU , AMD too occupy its time before the Ryzen 9 7950X3D , It arrived on the grocery store later than the residuum of the lineup — but it still launched much preferably than the entirety of the Raptor Lake refresh . While the Ryzen 7000 lineup launched in September 2022 , the Ryzen 9 7950X3D followed months later on February 28 , 2023 , accompanied by the Ryzen 9 7900X3D. it was later followed by the world’sbest gambling CPU — theRyzen 7 7800X3D.

Believe it or not , AMD ’s Ryzen 9 7950X3D actually managed to outsmart the eye - lachrymation damage shred of the Core i9 - 14900KS . At launch , the3D V - Cachechip was priced at $ 700 . However , following a steady series of price excision , you may now score this beastly CPU at a much more concordant price of $ 595 .

While both CPUs are still expensive , it ’s unlikely that Intel ’s new offering will get any tinny anytime soon , so this is as just as it ’s going to get for the foreseeable future .

Specs

If you ’re familiar with the chip architecture Intel has been employing since the Alder Lake propagation , you bed that on an architectural degree , these two chips are vastly different . Intel ’s Core i9 - 14900KS comes with a hybrid effect architecture , which have in mind that it extend a premix of performance ( P ) and efficiency ( E ) core . However , this is nothing newfangled at this point , and when you compare it to its predecessors , the core numeration has remained the same as in the Core i9 - 13900 K , 13900KS , and 14900K. Meanwhile , AMD has far few cores at 16 , but the same thread count .

The central processor also take issue in clock speed . Reviews of the Core i9 - 14900KSall check that in terms of frequency , it ’s as good as it make for a consumer CPU . It maxes out at 6.2GHz , but it also already managed to beat a world record with an extreme overlock that broke past 9.1GHz . ( This kind of performance can never be animate in a home circumstance . ) AMD ’s top chip has a significantly higher base clock speed , but it maxes out at 5.7GHz in boost mode .

The two chips also diverge greatly when it comes to combine cache size . The Core i9 - 14900KS offers 36 M of Intel Smart Cache ( L3 ) and 32 M of L2 cache . AMD ’s 7950X3D is insufferable to perplex in that regard , as it comes equipped with AMD ’s proprietary three-D V - Cache , stacking up to 144 MB .

And let ’s not colour over the difference in thermal design power ( TDP ) for both chips . While the Ryzen 9 7950X3D sit at 120 Watt and wo n’t go much beyond that ( 3D V - Cache chips can not be overclocked ) , Intel ’s beastly Core i9 - 14900KS has a humble TDP of 150 Isaac Watts that goes up to 253W in turbo mode . However , for certain workloads , reviewers notice that it can go even higher . It ’s also more tycoon - thirsty than its predecessor .

Performance

As the Core i9 - 14900KS is still very new , authentic benchmarks are hard to fare by , but we ’ve tested the Ryzen 9 7950X3D extensively , so we can still equate the event and see how these two Saratoga chip stack up against each other . Intel ’s own prediction is that the Core i9 - 14900KS will be around 15 % faster than the Core i9 - 13900KS , and in gaming , this sometimes checks out — but it ’s not universal .

Intel provide us with some initial bench mark of its own , equate it to the Ryzen 9 7950X3D in play . In sure titles , AMD hold an up to 20 % lead , while in over one-half of the benchmarked games , the two CPUs are equal . The Intel chip scores a 26 % win inTotal War : Warhammer IIIand a 24 % lead inMetro Exodus , though .

establish on our own benchmark , pure play scenarios usually pan out much other than . For instance , in the comparability above , the Ryzen 9 7950X3D managed to hit 234 frames per 2d ( fps ) inHitman 3 Dartmoorwhile the Core i9 - 14900 K trailed behind with 224 Federal Protective Service . The Core i9 - 14900KS , being faster , will fold the gap slenderly , but it should n’t outstrip the AMD processor . That ’s the business leader of 3D V - Cache , which is also why the Ryzen 7 7800X3D does such a good task in gaming scenario and really beats the Core i9 - 14900KS in some benchmark — despite costing nigh half the price .

accord to bench mark fromTom ’s ironware , the Ryzen 9 7950X3D was somewhat slower than its cheap vis-a-vis , attain 193 fps on norm equate to the 200 Federal Protective Service attain by the 7800X3D. On the other hand , the Core i9 - 14900KS averaged 188 fps at 1080p when using DDR5 - 6800 memory , and only 176 Federal Protective Service without the high-pitched - remnant RAM . This narrative go on at 1440p . Although the frame rates are lower across the board , the 7800X3D wins , closely observe by the Ryzen 9 7950X3D , with the Core i9 - 14900KS come down behind .

However , most user wo n’t be buy the Core i9 - 14900KS for its gaming capabilities . Its dependable military posture lies in productivity labor , and this is where it shines , all thanks to the tremendous pith counting and ultra - mellow frequency . Intel central processor typically handle productivity intimately than AMDs ’ , and with such a all-encompassing spread in core counts , it ’s bind to take the leash . This CPU is also said to handle undivided - marrow workloads with simpleness — again , this comes down to its eminent clock velocity .

In fact , a review fromHotHardwaresuggests that HEDT bit and the Core i9 - 14900KS are on an even playing primer , with the new CPU really advance the affaire d’honneur at times . The Core i9 - 14900KS fell slightly behind the Ryzen 9 7950X in Tom ’s Hardware ’s multi - threaded performance ranking , but it was quite far onwards of the X3D flake , not to note naut mi and mile ahead in individual - string workloads .

As for how the Core i9 - 14900KS compare to the Core i9 - 14900 K , it should come as no surprisal that the two buffalo chip are very similar . Intel decked out the Core i9 - 14900KS with drawn-out software Optimization ( APO ) , which is nice enough , but aside from a higher might draw and even profligate clock speeds , the Core i9 - 14900 K and its KS sib are nearly identical .

No contest

The never - stop question ofAMD vs. Intelstrikes back . Which of these two processors is better ? There ’s no square response to that doubtfulness — everything reckon on your usage cases — and yet , we still have a exculpated winner .

Intel ’s Core i9 - 14900KS is the fastest consumer C.P.U. for productiveness workloads right now , but it ’s no slouch in gaming , either . It ’ll breeze through just about every title at 1080p , but most citizenry wo n’t be buying a $ 700 central processing unit to play at 1080p . At higher resolution , the GPU take over the heavyweight tasks , which is why this processor will usually end up in builds that are also dump out with one of thebest graphics menu . In consummate gaming scenario , you ’ll never need all the force this processor can provide .

AMD ’s Ryzen 9 7950X3D , on the other hand , may fall behind in productiveness . It has much few core and it ca n’t hope to ever hit that magical 6.2GHz chump . However , alongside its cheap sib , the X3D part is still among the fastest processor for gaming , and it trumps the Core i9 - 14900KS while consume far less superpower . It also cost $ 100 less on median , which is n’t as much of a problem at this price chain of mountains , but it proves which processor provides better time value .

It ’s deserving noting that AMD also wins in term of future tense - proofing . If you bribe the Core i9 - 14900KS now , you ’ll need to switch out your entire chipset for future ascent , as Intel is travel on to a new socket inArrow Lake . AMD is committed to mystify to its novel AM5 platform for a few years .

If you need the Core i9 - 14900KS for productiveness tasks , it ’s deserving its weight in Au and then some . However , if you just require an fancier - level mainframe that wo n’t even flash no matter what you make at it , the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D is a better choice to corrupt in most instance . It ’s loud , more effective in terms of power consumption , still a productivity workhorse , and the ( nearly ) undisputed gaming king . For pure gaming scenario , just get the Ryzen 7 7800X3D.