Intel Core i9-14900KS: The Processor Clocked at 6.2GHz

March 19, 2024, 1:46 PM

Intel is bringing back the glory days of high MHz with the Core i9-14900KS processor, which delivers blazing speeds and tops Intel's 14th generation desktop processor lineup.

Computer enthusiasts who have been around for a few years may remember the period from the 90s to the early 2000s, when Intel was constantly increasing clock speeds as the main way to increase processor performance. AMD got in on the game too – it managed to beat Intel to 1 GHz, which was considered a major achievement at the time – but Intel’s Pentium 4 processors in particular focused on increasing clock speeds at the expense of instructions per cycle.

Today, the company is revisiting those days, albeit briefly, with the $600, its newest top-of-the-line desktop processor. The i9-14900KS can hit speeds of up to 6.2 GHz out of the box, a slight increase over the previous-generation i9-13900KS and the i9-14900K, which topped out at 6.0 GHz. Like other recent high-end Intel desktop chips, it also features “Adaptive Boost” , which will allow the chip to increase its power consumption and performance up to 100° Celsius.

This kind of clock speed increase is both impressive and impractical. On the one hand, Intel has managed to push clock speeds even higher without changing its architecture or manufacturing process, which is the culmination of years of iteration across its 12th, 13th, and 14th generation processor families. On the other hand, the i9-14900KS can use a ridiculous amount of power to achieve a marginally higher performance, reminding us of the laws of physics that helped stop the “megahertz wars” in the first place.

Intel's specifications list a specific TDP level of 320 W for the i9-14900KS, significantly higher than the 253 W TDP for the Core i9-14900K (although manufacturers often ignore Intel's specifications here, allowing processors to operate at essentially unlimited TDPs and relying on thermal throttling to prevent processors from "burning" themselves).

When it comes to real-world power consumption, Tom's Hardware's tests show quite large gaps between the amount of power used and the amount of performance gained. In a Blender rendering benchmark, the i9-14900KS consumed 31% more power compared to the i9-14900K for just a 1% performance improvement. While the difference isn't always that big, the increase in power consumption isn't always proportional to the increase in performance.

These kinds of impractical demo processors will likely continue to exist, but this could spell the end for Intel's Core i9 name, 14th-generation Core processor lineup, LGA 1700 socket, and Raptor Lake processor architecture. We should never rule anything out - Intel has a tendency to rebrand and reuse older chips to launch "new" products - but current rumors suggest that the new LGA 1851 socket and next-generation "Arrow Lake" processors will become Intel's top desktop platform within the next year or so.