Intel

Intel ’s “ Special Edition ” KS buffalo chip aremeantto be over the top . But thelatest Core i9 - 14900KS has just dropped , and it takes things to young heights of insanity .

It ’s a super - clocked version of the alreadyludicrous 14900Kthat sports the same great quantity of core , but a boost clock that moves even beyond the extremes of the standard 14900K. It can hit an unprecedented 6.2GHz on a couple of cores right out of the box seat , puddle it the fastest C.P.U. by clock speed ever unleash upon the public .

Intel 14900KS box.

Intel

But in modernistic CPUs , cores and clocks are never the full story . The 14900KS certainly is likely superfast , but as the reviews now drop , the cost of such peeled power is quite outrageous . Not only does this fleck demand a circumstances from your wallet — it demands even more from your power supply and chilling .

The good: It’s the fastest CPU for just about anything

WelovetheRyzen 7 7800X3D. It ’s the best play CPU — even if the 14900 K and KS are competitory at times — thanks to its incredible performance , relatively modest cost tag end , and absolutely jaw - dropping efficiency . But there ’s no denying that the 14900KS is a much fast central processor all - around . It gets very close in play , lean to succeed out by less than a percent at 4 K and fall behind by around 5 % on ordinary at 1080p . AsTomsHardwareput it : “ Most users who buy a $ 689 chip will be gaming at higher resolutions than 1080p anyway , and the deviation between the vanilla and KS model is still only 2.5 % at 1440p . ”

But it ’s productiveness where the 14900KS really shines . Just like the 14900 K before it , its massive measure of cores — 24 , with 32 thread bread and butter —   just mean it can do more at the same metre as AMD ’s processor . The AMD 7950X offers reasonable competition with its 16 high - performance Zen 4 cores , but it lacks the gaming exponent of the X3D models , so fall behind the Intel alternative there .

AsOverclock 3D set up it : “ [ The 14900KS offers ] really ludicrous layer of performance from a single CPU . ”

The high-pitched clock speed of the 14900KS really come into play in applications that benefit from individual - burden carrying into action . InHotHardware ’s examination , it found that “ [ HEDT ] platform actually drop behind the Core i9 - 14900KS when running single- or light threaded workloads . ” AlthoughThreadripperand its like will run rings round these sorts of central processor in video transcoding or encoding , the 14900KS blazes ahead in apps like Premiere and Photoshop .

It has also broken a few records already , perhaps most notably the highest ever clock speed . Asreported by Videocardz , Swedish overclocker Elmor wangle to push their 14900KS to 9117.75MHz — that ’s around 70MHz higher than the premature record , achieved with a 14900KF in October last twelvemonth . Asus has also claim records in PiFast , SuperPi 1 M , and PyPrime 32B with its 14900KS sample(s ) .

The bad: It uses all the power

If you thought the 14900 K was a might hog , hold off until you see the 14900KS . Although its lowly thermal design power ( TDP ) is only 25 watts higher than the 14900 K and its max turbo king evaluation is still at 253W , it can thread a hatful more power than any other processor in the ripe scenario .

“ [ The 14900KS ] is configured with a power point of accumulation setting of 320W , which it can contact easy when load with apps that surmount to all substance , ” saysTechPowerUp ’s W1zzard . “ On average , we measured an lotion power draw of 208 W , which is the highest we ’ve ever recorded — 30 W higher than the 14900K. With the 320W power limit removed , ordinary app power reaches 232W , with a 508W record in Blender . ”

Ouch . 500W just from the CPU alone is simply staggering , and though that ’s not what you ’ll experience in gambling — it tend to rive only around 160W on modal there — it ’s not really feasible for most users . It ’s right smart more than any other C.P.U. , and more than three times that of our favorite play CPU , the 7800X3D.

This leads to temperature issues . TechPowerup tested it using a gamy - end Noctua NH - U14S air cooler , where it saw the 14900KS strain 118 degrees in multi - threaded tests and just diffident of 100 degree in gambling . Overclock3Dcould only get it to stop thermic choking by delidding it — basically move out the interior heating plant broadcaster and gravely risking smash the mainframe in the process .

Even with a delidded 14900KS , an undervolt , and a 360 mm AIO , load temperatures still reached 86 - degrees . Madness .

But wait, there’s more

The 14900KS might be the last smashing mainframe of its coevals and will hold the title as the fast LGA 1700 processor for the rest period of sentence , but it ’s not quite finished its act just yet . AsVideoCardz reports , MSI plunge a custom microcode for PCs running the 14900KS to allow it to promote even higher . The P - Core Beyond 6GHz feature is already available on most MSI Z690 and Z790 motherboards for 14900 K users who desire a little supernumerary functioning , but the fresh updated version is applicable to the 14900KS .

It countenance the raw C.P.U. boost to a staggering 6.4GHz — that ’s a further 200MHz of unsanded power for absolutely nothing . Well , it does n’t cost you any more dollars , but it will likely run to an even greater rise in power use of goods and services and cooling requisite . check that your fan are spun up before enabling this one .

A true halo product CPU

Intel ’s special - variation KS processors have always been somewhat ridiculous , but the 14900KS feels like the most absurd of the bunch . Its performance appear to be year - leading in productivity , and through sheer brutal force , it ’s able to capture up ( sometimes ) to the much more agile and nimble 7800X3D , which be around half the price and uses a third of the power .

But the 14900KS appears to only be a little faster than the 14900 K , and that chip is now around $ 140 cheaper . you’re able to get favorable with the binning on that cow chip and just overclock it yourself if you do n’t brain revolve the die .

However , if you want the fast LGA 1700 processor that will ever be made or just require the fast Intel CPU while we wait forArrow Lakelater this year , the 14900KS is an option . But if you desire amazing productivity at a fraction of the cost , the 14700 K offers much more value for money with a slenderly less insane power haulage . If you are only going to be play , the 7800X3D is by far the good choice , and the 7950X or 7950X3D offer a good middle ground of productivity and functioning at a greater efficiency .

There are lots of awesome CPUs to pick from at the mo . The 14900KS might wear a crown , but it ’s a halo , and harmonize to the review out there correctly now , is n’t for the deliquium of heart .