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Intel i7 14700K could offer a 20% performance boost, but at a cost

The latest CPU leak suggests Intel's 14th Gen desktop CPUs could be in line for a drastic uptick in multi-core performance, but there's a small downside.

A Chinese tech reviewer known as “T小白” bagged themselves an early glimpse of an upcoming Intel Raptor Lake Refresh processor. While they playfully dubbed the gaming CPU in question an Intel ‘13700KS’ to avoid unwanted attention, the specs are consistent with those of the hotly anticipated Intel Core i7 14700K.

Despite not referencing the 14700K by name, the details speak for themselves. In a since-deleted video on Chinese video-sharing site, Bilibili, T小白 showed a processor with 20 cores, with the information shared by 9550pro on Twitter. As the Core i7 14700K is the only Raptor Lake Refresh SKU to offer an increased core count, boasting 20 compared to its predecessor’s 16, it seems likely that the model in the video is an i7 14700K, not a 13700KS as suggested.

Intel Core i7 14700K benchmark leak: a Tweet showing CPU benchmarking figures appears in a white box against an orange background.

T小白 put the i7 14700K through its paces with a rigorous all-core AIDA64 test, where it demonstrated a 4.2% to 4.5% single-core performance boost with CPU-Z and Cinebench R23, and a 14.3% to 20.7% boost for multicore workloads. When the reviewer deactivated four Efficient cores to match the i7 13700K’s core count, the performance was nearly identical, proposing the vast majority of gains come from the added cores.

There is a downside to these extra cores and improved performance, however. The i7 14700K’s power draw has increased from the i7 13700Ks’ 232W to 260W. If you plan to pair that with a power-hungry pixel pusher, you might be in need of a new PSU. Check out our list of the best power supply units if you’re looking to upgrade. Don’t forget: the Intel Core i7 14700K is rumored to release in September.