• 

  Intel Core i7-14700K

  Editor's choice

  The Intel Core i7-14700K offers better performance with higher clock speeds and more cores. It also has a lower platform cost, but LGA 1700 is reaching its end of line, meaning there's no upgrade path.

  Pros

  • Reliable performance for gaming and productivity
  • Supports DDR4 memory
  • Notable improvements over its predecessor

  Cons

  • Needs a high-performance cooler
  • Will age quickly

• 

  AMD Ryzen 7 7700X

  Best value

  The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X is one of the most powerful processors on the market right now, with 8 cores and 16 threads for top-tier desktop performance. AMD's AM5 will prove more expensive, but it's here to stay for at least a few more years.

  Pros

  • Cheaper than the i7-14700K
  • Reliable 8-core performance
  • AM5 will be around for a while

  Cons

  • Higher platform cost with DDR5 and AM5
  • Runs hot at default power settings

Intel's new 14th-generation Core "Raptor Lake Refresh" series has finally hit the shelves, giving Team Blue members another chance to flex against AMD's Zen 4 Ryzen 7000 series chips. The Raptor Lake Refresh series, as you'd expect, doesn't bring any radical improvements to the table as the new SKUs mostly represent a minor spec bump. The Intel Core i7-14700K is the only processor to have received the biggest upgrade this time, while the rest have only seen some minor clock speed increases across the board.

That's right, the Core i7-14700K is the only chip to get more cores along with a dollop of additional cache, making it the most interesting processor of the lot. But how much of an improvement is it, and how does it stack up against something like the Ryzen 7 7700X, which almost tied with the previous-gen Core i7-13700K in gaming? If you are in the market for a new gaming CPU and are wondering whether you should go with Team Blue or Team Red, then let's pit Intel's new Core i7-14700K against AMD's Ryzen 7 7700X CPU to find out which one's better in 2023.

Intel Core i7-14700K vs AMD Ryzen 7 7700X: Price, availability, and specs

The Core i7-14700K debuted as a part of Intel's new 14th-generation Raptor Lake Refresh series on Oct. 17 with an official MSRP of $409. You can pick one up right now from various retailers in the U.S. including Newegg for $419, which is $106 more than Ryzen 7 7700X's discounted price of $295 on Amazon at the time of writing this article. This is how much the Ryzen 7 7700X has been going for lately, so expect to pay at least $100 more for the i7-14700K.

This price difference of $100 or so may stick out like a sore thumb, but it starts to fade once you factor platform costs for your PC build. The LGA 1700 motherboards for the i7-14700K are cheaper than AM5 boards required for the Ryzen 7 7700X. Not to mention, you can also pair the i7-14700K with DDR4 memory instead of DDR5 to save some more cash that can go towards a faster SSD or a better better GPU. It's safe to say that you'll likely end up spending more or less the same amount of money overall on your build, despite the Ryzen 7 7700X being the cheaper option here. Personally, I'd look at more than just the price difference if I were to pick one between these two, so let's dig in more.

• 	Intel Core i7-14700K	AMD Ryzen 7 7700X
  Brand	Intel	AMD
  CPU Model	i7-14700K	Ryzen 7 7700X
  Cores	8P / 12E	8
  Threads	28	16
  Process	Intel 7	5nm
  Base Clock Speed	2.5GHz / 3.4GHz	4.5GHz
  Boost Clock Speed	4.3GHz / 5.6GHz	5.4GHz
  Cache	33MB L3 + 28MB L2	32MB L3 + 2MB L2
  RAM	DDR4-3200 / DDR5-5600	DDR5-5200
  PCIe	5.0	5.0
  TDP	253W	105

Architecture and design differences

The Core i7-14700K and Ryzen 7 7700X are two very different processors that are based on vastly different microarchitecture and design. The Core i7-14700K follows the hybrid architecture with two types of cores, whereas the Ryzen 7000 series chip in this comparison is a non-hybrid unit based on AMD's Zen 4 architecture. What this essentially means is that the i7-14700K consists of both performance (P-cores) and the more efficient (E-cores), to go against the AMD's Ryzen 7 7700X, which only uses P-cores.

The Core i7-14700K, in case you're wondering, has 8 P-cores and 12 E-cores for a total of 28 threads, which is a good step up from the previous-gen i7-13700K's 8+8 configuration for a total of 24 threads. Four additional E-cores for the new chip may not seem like a significant jump, but that — in addition to slightly higher cache — pays huge dividends to allow the new chip to perform better overall. The P-cores have a base clock and boost clock speeds of 3.4GHz and 5.5GHz, respectively, whereas the E-cores have a base clock speed of 2.5GHz and a boost clock speed of up to 4.3GHz.

AMD's Ryzen 7 7700X, on the other hand, is a non-hybrid chip with 8 cores and 16 threads, and it's capable of boosting up to 5.4GHz. The Ryzen 7 7700X isn't as power efficient as AMD's Ryzen 7000X3D chips, but the 7700X is rated to draw less power in this comparison while going against the i7-14700K. The newer revision of the "Intel 7" process node allows the new 14th-gen chips, including the Core i7-14700K, to deliver higher frequencies within the same power envelops compared to their previous-gen parts, but it's still going to need more power and a more capable cooling solution.

Before we move on to the platform differences, it's worth highlighting that the Ryzen 7 7700X is based on TSMC's 5nm node, whereas the i7-14700K is produced on the Intel 7 node, the company's 10nm technology.

Platform differences

I briefly touched on the platform differences a bit earlier in this comparison, but let's go over them once again. The Intel Core i7-14700K slots right into LGA 1700 socket motherboards, which have a couple of advantages over the AM5 socket-based motherboards you'll need for the Ryzen 7 7700X. The biggest advantage here is the support for DDR4 memory, which are significantly cheaper than DDR5 memory kits. The i7-14700K is also backwards compatible with Intel's 600 series chipset, meaning you can also opt for even cheaper boards to save more money. This essentially means that you can build a capable PC with Intel's newer chip for less money compared to how much you'd spend on an AM5 build.

It is, however, worth noting that Intel's 14th-gen CPUs will be the last ones to use the LGA 1700 socket, meaning you'll have to bear the new platform cost for your next-gen Intel CPU upgrade. That's a non-issue if you go with Ryzen 7 7700X as AMD's AM5 is much newer and will continue to support newer Ryzen chips for longer. This is huge factor to consider if you're building a new PC right now in hopes of upgrading it over the years without spending too much. The Ryzen 7 7700X definitely has that advantage over the i7-14700K in this category.

Performance

Coming to the meat of this comparison, there's no denying that the i7-14700K is the better performing CPU overall, and the same is reflected in our Core i7-14700K review that my colleague Adam put together after having the i7-14700K in his test bench. This is hardly a surprise considering the fact that Intel's previous-gen Core i7-13700K delivered better performance overall while going against the Ryzen 7 7700X. It's also largely due to the difference in core count, and their corresponding base and boost clock speeds. There's a significant gap between the two processors, which is sure to reflect both in and out of gaming.

The Cinebench R23 scores highlighted above should give you a better understanding of the kind of performance you can expect to see these chips. The i7-14700K performs really well, and it beats the Ryzen 7 7700X in both single-core and multi-core tests. The addition of four more E-cores on the i7-14700K has allowed it to bridge the gap between Core i7 and i9 further, as it nears the multi-core performance of the more expensive Core i9-13900K and even the newer Core i9-14900K. Yes, these tests were performed under different testing environments, but they're quite comparable and should give you an idea of what to expect. We'll have a more measured take on the performance differences once we get a chance to bring these chips together for a side-by-side comparison under a more controlled testing environment.

This difference in raw performance should also reflect positively in favor of the new i7-14700K in this comparison. I say that because the Ryzen 7 7700X was only able to go neck and neck with 13700K's performance in games, and there's no reason to believe that it will compete on the same level as the i7-14700K. Intel's i7-13700K proved to be more capable overall last year compared AMD's Ryzen 7 7700X and provided nearly the same gaming performance as the i9-13900K, so the new i7-14700K will be better overall too considering it's superior by the numbers on paper compared to the i7-13700K. The collective Geekbench 6 benchmark chart in our i7-14700K review also indicates that its overall performance is closer to that of the Ryzen 9 7900X than the Ryzen 7 7700X.

The i7-14700K, however, is going to consume more power compared to the Ryzen 7 7700X, so keep that in mind. It peaked at a power draw of 280W in our testing under load in Cinebench R23's multi-core test. The Ryzen 7 7700X will hover around 200W under the same load. You'll definitely need a capable cooling solution to keep the temperatures of i7-14700K in check because the i7-14700K in our testbench had a hard time keeping it together even with an NZXT Kraken Z53 liquid cooler. That's not to say the Ryzen 7 7700X is going to be very easy to cool, but it's likely to be less demanding albeit only by a slight margin.

Intel Core i7-14700K vs AMD Ryzen 7 7700X: Which one should you buy?

By now, you probably know that Intel's new Core i7-14700K offers more raw performance. Notably, it also has a lower platform cost as both LGA 1700 motherboards, and DDR4 is cheaper to buy compared to DDR5 kits and AM5 motherboards for the Ryzen 7 7700X. It does come at a cost of relatively higher power draw and more heat, but it's nothing a good CPU cooler can't handle. That being said, the LGA 1700 socket is reaching its end with no upgrade path as I previously mentioned, and that also plays a huge role in deciding which CPU to buy.

The Core i7-14700K is easily the better pick if you want the absolute best performance right now, and you don't necessarily care about the upgrade path, at least not immediately. It'll stick around with you for at least a few years before needing an upgrade, and you're likely to spend almost the same amount of money on your build as you would with a Ryzen 7 7700X right now, thanks to the lower platform cost.

Intel Core i7-14700K

Better performance

The Intel i7-14700K has some improvements over the last generation, including higher boost clocks and four more E-cores. Otherwise, it's just more of the same.

Meanwhile, the Ryzen 7 7700X is arguably the better pick for those who value long-term usage due to the upgrade path you get by sticking with AM5 platform. For what it's worth, it's also more power efficient, and you're less likely to have a hard time cooling it. It will demand a higher upfront cost while building a PC right now, though.

AMD Ryzen 7 7700X

Better upgrade path

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X is one of the most powerful processors on the market right now, with 8 cores and 16 threads for top-tier desktop performance.