Introduction

Intel Core i9-14900KS is the latest enthusiast-segment desktop processor targeted at overclockers and gamers who want nothing but the best gaming experience, and the best performance with desktop productivity. This is possibly Intel’s last flagship desktop processor based on a monolithic silicon for a long while, as the company transitions to Foveros tiles with its next generation Arrow Lake. The new Core i9-14900KS is a Special Edition product, and is marked as such on its fancy box. This means that the processor won’t be as widely available as the regular i9-14900K, and comes with a few special requirements to unlock its true potential.

The Core i9-14900KS is based on the same Raptor Lake Refresh microarchitecture as the rest of Intel’s 14th Gen Core processor family, and features the same 8P+16E core configuration as the i9-14900K. It’s set apart not just by slightly higher clock speeds, but also a few intangibles, such as better overclocking potential than the regular i9-14900K. These chips are made from the highest performing bins of the silicon.

The Core i9-14900KS is a Socket LGA1700 processor, and technically compatible with any Intel 600-series or 700-series chipset motherboard; although not all motherboard models may get UEFI firmware updates from their manufacturers to support this chip. Intel has three categories of CPU power delivery profiles for its processors, which determine their boosting behavior on the platforms they’re installed on. The Base Power Delivery Profile ensures compatibility on some of the lower-end motherboards originally designed for processors with 65 W base power, and just enough maximum turbo power that a single 8-pin EPS connector can pull. The Performance Power Delivery Profile is found with 125 W K-series processors. For the i9-14900KS, this enables base-power (PL1) and maximum turbo power (PL2) values of 253 W, and an ICCMax current of 307 A.

What’s exclusive to the i9-14900KS that the i9-14900K doesn’t have, is the presence of an Extreme Power Delivery profile. This ensures a 320 W PL1 and PL2 value, with the ICCMax current as high as 400 A. While many motherboards support the i9-14900KS with a UEFI firmware update, not all of them support the Extreme Power Delivery profile, and so you should really be careful when choosing a motherboard to pair with this processor—pick one with two 8-pin EPS power connectors, the Z790 chipset, and a UEFI firmware update specifying support for the i9-14900KS.

The Core i9-14900KS is a beast when it comes to its stock clock speeds. Its 8 performance cores (P-cores) come with a base frequency of 3.20 GHz, just like the i9-14900K, but boost all the way up to 6.20 GHz, for two of the best P-cores. This is a 200 MHz increase over the i9-14900K. The Turbo Boost Max 3.0 frequency for the P-cores sees an increase to 5.90 GHz, compared to 5.80 GHz on the i9-14900K. There’s something even for the 16 E-cores, which now boost up to 4.50 GHz, a 100 MHz increase over that of the i9-14900K. The processor base power is 150 W, compared to the 125 W of the i9-14900K, and while the maximum turbo power is the same 253 W, this is only the Performance Power Delivery profile, and won’t enable the advertised speeds—the 320 W Extreme Power Delivery profile, will.

The Raptor Lake Refresh microarchitecture driving the 14th Gen Core family is essentially identical to the Raptor Lake architecture from the 13th Gen Core, with generational increases in clock speeds; and the introduction of new features for the K-series processors, such as Intel Application Optimization (APO), an extension of the Dynamic Performance Tuning to more optimally manage power for the P-cores, to enable the best application-specific boosting behavior, and yield tangible performance gains. When Intel 14th Gen launched last October, a grand total of two game titles supported APO, exclusively for the 14900K—Metro Exodus and Rainbow Six Siege; but the list of supported titles has grown to 14 titles since, and Intel plans to expand APO to more processor models, including K series CPUs from both 12th and 13th gen Intel.

Intel is pricing the Core i9-14900KS at $690, which is a $100 increase over the regular i9-14900K, and a surprising $50 cheaper than the previous generation i9-13900KS.