Intel has quietly launched a complete vary of latest 14th-gen Raptor Lake CPUs that do away fully with the corporate’s low-power E-Cores, and as an alternative home solely high-power P-Cores. This deal with uncooked energy means the brand new vary, which is topped by the Intel Core i9 14901KE, could be best to be used in high-end gaming PCs, however Intel doesn’t appear eager on that concept.
As a substitute, these new greatest gaming CPU contenders are being offered solely as for embedded methods – therefore the E on the tip of the product identify – so that they gained’t be purchasable individually. It’s attainable these new Intel CPUs will discover their strategy to retailers as nicely, nevertheless it’s not a route Intel is encouraging.
The complete vary of the chips is listed under, and covers just about your complete vary occupied by present 14th-gen Intel Core CPUs, simply with all of the E-Cores eliminated. There are additionally T variants of every CPU, that are 45W TDP variations, plus there are F variants that don’t embrace built-in graphics.
Which means the high-end elements (the 14901KE all the way down to the 14701E) embrace eight P-Cores, whereas the mid-range choices (the 14501E to the 14401EF) have six P-Cores. There are not any variations of those chips with simply 4 P-Cores although, which is the quantity housed within the firm’s customary Core i3 chips. The complete specs of a few of these processors are listed on Intel’s Ark web site, although not all are proven.
- Intel Core i9 14901KE
- Intel Core i9 14901E
- Intel Core i7 14701E
- Intel Core i5 14501E
- Intel Core i5 14401E
As a reminder, E-Cores are the marginally cut-down, extra fundamental cores that Intel has been packing into its CPUs in recent times to make sure they provide as many as 24 cores in a single CPU bundle. This leads to spectacular multi-core efficiency, however these cores don’t run at as excessive a clock pace as the standard cores (referred to as P-Cores).
Since debuting E-Cores, Intel has needed to work with the likes of Microsoft to make sure working methods and video games know what they need to prioritize to run on P-Cores, reasonably than E-Cores. Nonetheless, this doesn’t all the time work, with video games similar to Cyberpunk 2077 needing so as to add particular prioritization settings for these hybrid CPUs.
As such, a CPU that merely does away with E-Cores altogether would seemingly be best for players simply in search of uncooked gaming pace. That’s very true given how scorching the likes of the 14900K run with its excessive clock pace and 16 additional E-Cores. For some cause, although, Intel has determined to not make that an choice with these chips.
It’s not like these CPUs are underpowered in comparison with the usual chips both. Typically with embedded processors, their inherent deal with reliability means clock speeds are pulled again significantly. Nonetheless, whereas the 14901KE, as an example, does have a really barely slower peak clock pace of 5.8GHz in comparison with 6GHz for the usual 14900K, its base clock is definitely 600MHz larger.
Curiously, all these CPUs, aside from the 14901KE (which is rated to 125W), are rated at only a TDP of 65W. As compared, the 14700K and even 14600K are 125W TDP chips, regardless of the latter having fewer P-Cores. As such, a product just like the 14701E with its eight P-Cores, 5.4GHz peak enhance clock pace, and 65W TDP looks like a extremely attention-grabbing choice for a gaming CPU.
Till some rogue retailers resolve to pop a couple of of those chips on their store cabinets, although, you’ll simply must make do with our customary greatest gaming CPU suggestions, and for those who’re eyeing up one in every of Intel’s high selections from that listing, you’ll wish to try our greatest CPU cooler information too.
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