Intel's Core i9-14900KS is here - and this 6.2GHz CPU isn't as expensive as some feared

Intel has released its Core i9-14900KS processor on the day the rumor mill expected, and the good news is that it's not as pricey as some had feared.

2

We recently heard some buzz about the limited edition spin on the Raptor Lake Refresh flagship perhaps costing $749 (a leak from Micro Center, in fact), but fortunately Intel hasn't made the Core i9-14900KS that costly.

In fact, Team Blue has stuck with the same asking price as the 13900KS, namely $699 in the US ($689 when buying in volume - although there might not be that much quantity of stock for the 14900KS, if some other rumors are correct).

Again as rumored, and to no one's surprise at this point, the boost speed of the Core i9-14900KS is 6.2GHz out of the box, which is impressive for a stock clock speed, of course - but inevitably comes with a cost in terms of power usage.

While the Core i9-14900KS has a TDP of 150W (a 25W increase on its predecessor), as we've seen in leaks, when pushed hard it'll eat a lot more wattage - perhaps in excess of 400W if the rumors turn out to be correct (and that would not surprise us).

As Tom's Hardware points out in its review of the Core i9-14900KS, this is not a processor to jump on for gaming - and is a chip more suited to heavyweight tasks and productivity. Not that it doesn't do well with PC games, of course, but it's outdone by the way cheaper AMD Ryzen 7800X3D for pure gaming (and the 7950X3D for that matter).

Mind you, that said, a handful of games - those supporting Intel's APO tech - will get an extra boost there, which could put this CPU ahead of AMD in certain scenarios.