I got a 14600k!

H

Haswellbeast

Gawd
2FA
Joined
Feb 5, 2025
Messages
593
Well, I pulled the plug today on a 14600k. Why that and not the Microcenter 7700x bundle? Because I ended up paying $20 more than that for some much nicer ram (ddr5 7200 cl34) and a way nice motherboard. (Refurb ROG z790-e), and the 14600k from what I could tell is pretty comparable in gaming, and then better in multithread.

My thoughts so far:
CPU-
I'm glad I stuck with an i5. I notice that the more reasonable turbo clock of 5.3ghz keeps voltages pretty in-check at stock, and so far with undervolting I can keep my all core p core turbo at 5.3 ghz at 1.09v and the stock power limits. Also, the i5 was kind of the sweet spot at $180, the 12600kf was $120, but that has lower clocks and half the e cores, also, a worse memory controller, which is what I assume prevents 12th gen from being on my motherboard's QVL list for my ram kit. Overall, I just wanted to hit the sweet spot, and, I'd say I did for this socket. My temps are nice as well, as with the stock 180w power limit, I basically hold at like 77c on my hottest core with the default motherboard fan curve. Also, I would add that I have a warranty on this CPU until 2030!

RAM-
This deal was great. It was Teamgroup T-Force Xtreem 7200 CL34 32gb kit for $65... which is significantly cheaper than even the "one step beyond JDEC nonsense" DDR5-6000 CL36 kits. Why was it so cheap...? I think because it was pink. The heatspreaders are pink. No matter- I do not care about asthetic that much in the first place, and my Deepcool AK620 covers the heatspreaders anyway

Motherboard-
This was a steal. It was Microcenter refurb, and wow, what a board this is. It for one, has a post code... It is really overbuilt, and, I looked up the original price for it and.... yeah.. I would have never, ever, ever have bought this board new. The fact that brand new, this board costed $500 (5/6 of the price of a 13/14900k) would make me think "who the hell would buy this?" Apparently me, when the board is 1/5 the price refurb.

I understand this motherboard is overkill, and it is the most high end board I have ever owned, but man, it is nice.

Anyway, so far, I am enjoying the upgrade, and I hope it lasts me!
 
I'm often hesitant with new tech. When LCD monitors came out, I stuck with CRTs for a while. When SSDs came out, I stuck with HDs for a while. Now I'm hesitating with hybrid CPUs. What do see as an advantage in hybrid CPUs?
 
If you haven't, update the BIOS. Intel included the 13600K and 14600K on the list of affected processors for their 13th and 14th gen degradation problem(s).
 
arestavo said:
If you haven't, update the BIOS. Intel included the 13600K and 14600K on the list of affected processors for their 13th and 14th gen degradation problem(s).
Click to expand...
Don't worry, I got the board with a late 2024 bios with fixes. After I upgraded to windows 11, I updated the bios after to the latest one. I have heard all the stuff about the degradation. Hence, why I'm undervolting lol.
 
wandplus said:
I'm often hesitant with new tech. When LCD monitors came out, I stuck with CRTs for a while. When SSDs came out, I stuck with HDs for a while. Now I'm hesitating with hybrid CPUs. What do see as an advantage in hybrid CPUs?
Click to expand...
If you have background tasks or "bloat" in the background, you have 8 E cores to pin on that, meanwhile, all you P cores are available to the game no matter what, unless your background tasks are too much for those e cores, but the E cores are strong, and can help in multi threaded workloads quite a bit. To the point where the i5 in multithread is closer to the 7900x than 7700x, from what I've seen.
 
Last edited:
wandplus said:
I'm often hesitant with new tech. When LCD monitors came out, I stuck with CRTs for a while. When SSDs came out, I stuck with HDs for a while. Now I'm hesitating with hybrid CPUs. What do see as an advantage in hybrid CPUs?
Click to expand...

Its they same system your cell phone has been using for a decade now. A couple "big" cores for performance while a pack of "small" cores run the day to day tasks. Its a laptop/mobile design, made to save power and improve efficiency. It most likely trickled over to desktop thanks to California's new power requirements for PCs a few years back.
 
LigTasm said:
Its a laptop/mobile design, made to save power and improve efficiency. It most likely trickled over to desktop thanks to California's new power requirements for PCs a few years back.
Click to expand...

Intel brought E-Cores to the desktop because they have a process node disadvantage and can't fit more than 8 P-Cores on any of their desktop CPUs due to power and heat limitations.
 
I also grabbed a 14600K recently, replacing a 12600KF on existing Z790 MB.
Newegg had the 14600K $164 bundled with a 1TB Gen4 M2 and an intel spring gaming bundle w/Civ 7, plus they gave me $85 for my 12600KF in trade-in so I figured why not. Been leaning to eventually get a non-F cpu anyways so seemed like the time to do it.
I updated bios and microcode prior to changing out CPU, so the 14600K has only ever been on 12F microcode. I'm also keeping it on Intel default power limits with a vcore offset - .05
CPU speed varies as I use a turbo ratio offset... gaming I'm steady @5.5 on P cores (52 x 105.7), w/max single core of 5812. Base clock is 105.7, up from 104.23 on the 12600KF. Getting similiar temp results with my thermalright frost spirit 140 while gaming, though jumps as high as 91c on R23.

My (approximated) overclock results: R23 went from 18400 to 25300, timespy went from 20,100 to 20,400. In general seeing 3-12 FPS increase @1440p. Power usage (gaming) went from ~125w on average to ~178w on average. Memory went from 1806 (17.33 x 104.23) to 1831 (17.33 x 105.7) T1 CL16 DDR4.
Bottom line for me it was an inexpensive drop in upgrade with $85 for my old CPU, a free $60 M2 and $60 Civ 7 (also included Crysis trilogy remastered and Dying Light: The Beast).

Z790 mb's can be found at incredible prices sometimes. I got mine in 2023 for $120 refurb. Enjoy!
 
toddw said:
I also grabbed a 14600K recently, replacing a 12600KF on existing Z790 MB.
Newegg had the 14600K $164 bundled with a 1TB Gen4 M2 and an intel spring gaming bundle w/Civ 7, plus they gave me $85 for my 12600KF in trade-in so I figured why not. Been leaning to eventually get a non-F cpu anyways so seemed like the time to do it.
I updated bios and microcode prior to changing out CPU, so the 14600K has only ever been on 12F microcode. I'm also keeping it on Intel default power limits with a vcore offset - .05
CPU speed varies as I use a turbo ratio offset... gaming I'm steady @5.5 on P cores (52 x 105.7), w/max single core of 5812. Base clock is 105.7, up from 104.23 on the 12600KF. Getting similiar temp results with my thermalright frost spirit 140 while gaming, though jumps as high as 91c on R23.

My (approximated) overclock results: R23 went from 18400 to 25300, timespy went from 20,100 to 20,400. In general seeing 3-12 FPS increase @1440p. Power usage (gaming) went from ~125w on average to ~178w on average. Memory went from 1806 (17.33 x 104.23) to 1831 (17.33 x 105.7) T1 CL16 DDR4.
Bottom line for me it was an inexpensive drop in upgrade with $85 for my old CPU, a free $60 M2 and $60 Civ 7 (also included Crysis trilogy remastered and Dying Light: The Beast).

Z790 mb's can be found at incredible prices sometimes. I got mine in 2023 for $120 refurb. Enjoy!
Click to expand...
Yeah, I find the Intel oxidation hard to be fearful of, especially because at stock, the CPU doesn't go above 1.3v, and now, I have it so that it never goes above 1.2v. Yet, I still see fear mongering about degradation- it must be just an i9/i7 thing-- especially post-micorcode updates
 
  • Like
Reactions: toddw
like this
Haswellbeast said:
Yeah, I find the Intel oxidation hard to be fearful of, especially because at stock, the CPU doesn't go above 1.3v, and now, I have it so that it never goes above 1.2v. Yet, I still see fear mongering about degradation- it must be just an i9/i7 thing-- especially post-micorcode updates
Click to expand...
It took a year and half for my 13900 k to go hell. I ended up with a free upgrade to a 14900 courtesy of Intel. They even cross shipped for me. No regrets. I will stick to Intel given how well they took care of me. I just hope that they survive. Even AMD customers should root for Intel. Competition is a good thing for all of us.
 
jacuzz1 said:
It took a year and half for my 13900 k to go hell. I ended up with a free upgrade to a 14900 courtesy of Intel. They even cross shipped for me. No regrets. I will stick to Intel given how well they took care of me. I just hope that they survive. Even AMD customers should root for Intel. Competition is a good thing for all of us.
Click to expand...
Nice board there!
 
Good choice on the 14600K. Intel has some nice options for gaming below X3D prices, more so if it's a mixed use rig and you can make good use of those e-cores. Seems like the task scheduler fun with e-cores is sorted out at this point, and i5s were never heavily affected by the degradation problem. Should be fine with the patches. Solid chip for what, $180 at Microcenter?
 
zandor said:
Good choice on the 14600K. Intel has some nice options for gaming below X3D prices, more so if it's a mixed use rig and you can make good use of those e-cores. Seems like the task scheduler fun with e-cores is sorted out at this point, and i5s were never heavily affected by the degradation problem. Should be fine with the patches. Solid chip for what, $180 at Microcenter?
Click to expand...
yep, $180 with a very well priced board and ram, beats the MC $350 7700X bundle
 
Haswellbeast said:
Anyway, so far, I am enjoying the upgrade, and I hope it lasts me!
Click to expand...
You want it to last? Keep it cool and avoid thermal stresses. You should delid that CPU and use watercooling, but real one. Not tha AiO crap 😒
 
leSLIe said:
You want it to last? Keep it cool and avoid thermal stresses. You should delid that CPU and use watercooling, but real one. Not tha AiO crap 😒
Click to expand...
Yeah, I have it on the default 183w power limits with a contact frame and a beefy deepcool ak620. It has never exceeded 75c, Prime95, cinebench, etc.. Never gotten hotter because of the power limit.
 
My 9950x3d with a big honkin' 360mm aio can sustain 5.6 ghz all core for a time, I don't know at what voltage though it doesn't get hot tops out in the 70s C and doesn't make much difference in the fan speeds unless it's for along time like with a big list in handbrake or similar. 14600 for that price with the rest is a hell of a deal though, GG. It was high time for you indeed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top