i7 5820K upgrade to i7 14700K or wait?

[Jiffy]

I've been on my 5820k since 2016 so feeling it's time for an upgrade! I don't game but I am going to need a faster setup for content creation (mainly Premiere Pro). A 14700K would be a huge increase in speed but I'm put off by the following:
- complaints about heat and power consumption
- only incremental improvements over previous generations
- limited number of boards with Gen 5 M.2 support

My question is, would I better of waiting a few months? I could wait up to 6 months ok. Thanks!

EDIT: I have a Noctua DH-15 cooler already so will use that with a new adapter plate.

 

[stooeh]

Will be a massive boost! I wouldn't be waiting but you've held on this long...

 

[Armageus]

Double the single core performance and over 5x the multi core. You could wait, but then you'll end up waiting for the next thing.

Buy now enjoy a huge performance boost

 

[Tetras]

- only incremental improvements over previous generations

The 14th gen 14700 has 4 additional E-Cores, so for productivity it actually has a meaningful difference that isn't only the clock speeds.

- complaints about heat and power consumption

Air coolers do struggle with these when they're run unlocked, especially in anything that is heavily multithreaded. They can be made more manageable without losing much performance, but depends on how much tweaking you want to do in the BIOS.

- limited number of boards with Gen 5 M.2 support

Z790/B760 can only offer a PCI-E 5.0 M.2 if it steals lanes from the graphics card, since their native M.2 lanes are only PCIE 4.0.

 

[FredFlint]

I would get an AMD 7950X/7900X as the AMD boards seem to have better PCIe 5 support and will get drop-in upgrades for 1-2 generations.

 

[MartinPrince]

I would get an AMD 7950X/7900X as the AMD boards seem to have better PCIe 5 support and will get drop-in upgrades for 1-2 generations.

I'm probably a bit like you in that I tend to prefer the 7950X for permanent all core workloads (rendering etc) but for Premiere Pro usage then Puget recommends 14th Gen:

Between the new Intel Core 14th Gen processors and AMD Ryzen 7000-series, Intel comes out on top in almost every case. Intel is particularly strong in specific workloads where Quick Sync comes into play (LongGOP codecs like H.264/HEVC), beating AMD by up to 30%. However, even in areas where Intel does not have an inherent advantage, they still lead by about 10%.

Adobe Premiere Pro: Intel Core 14th Gen vs AMD Ryzen 7000

Intel Core processors typically hold an edge over AMD in Premiere Pro due to Quick Sync, but how well do the new 14th Gen processors perform?

www.pugetsystems.com

 

[Rroff]

I have zero regrets buying a 14700K recently and I'd consider it the best balanced performance at the current price point, I think the only thing which really lets it down is the mediocre PCI-e lane provisioning especially PCI-e 5.0 beyond GPU slot support but IMO by the time PCI-e 5.0 or later is really that useful it will likely be time to move on anyhow from current platforms, unless you are doing something niche where the performance of PCI-e 5.0 NVMEs is paramount.

With an air-cooler though you will be marginal for extreme multithreaded workloads and need to run the fans flat out to avoid boost clocks dropping due to thermal management but it shouldn't be too big a problem - with my fans on a "silent" profile I only lose 0.5-1% performance in extreme multithreaded work and no drop at all in anything else - stuff like gaming will be absolutely no problem.

My contention here would be that the AMD CPUs at a similar price point tend to have unbalanced performance - being strong in a particular area but let down in another area and stuff like the 7950X(3D) are quite a bit more money than the 14700K. The 7800X3D gets hyped a lot but despite very strong gaming performance really is 1-2 generations behind for performance in other areas, which may or may not matter to someone but often gets glossed over - even things like application installs can be noticeably slower on some of the X3D chips compared to the non-X3D or Intel alternatives.

 

[Jiffy]

Double the single core performance and over 5x the multi core. You could wait, but then you'll end up waiting for the next thing.

Buy now enjoy a huge performance boost

True. I was looking to upgrade a while ago but DDR5 was just coming out and was very expensive with limited choice. Not a problem now.

Air coolers do struggle with these when they're run unlocked, especially in anything that is heavily multithreaded. They can be made more manageable without losing much performance, but depends on how much tweaking you want to do in the BIOS.

Z790/B760 can only offer a PCI-E 5.0 M.2 if it steals lanes from the graphics card, since their native M.2 lanes are only PCIE 4.0.

I'll be using my Noctua DH-15 so that should help. I'm not averse to trying some undervolting if it helps.

7900X

If it wasn't for those Puiget benchmarks, I'd probably be going for AMD.

 

[FredFlint]

True. I was looking to upgrade a while ago but DDR5 was just coming out and was very expensive with limited choice. Not a problem now.


I'll be using my Noctua DH-15 so that should help. I'm not averse to trying some undervolting if it helps.



If it wasn't for those Puiget benchmarks, I'd probably be going for AMD.

It was the drop-in CPU upgrade and better PCIe that decided it for me as the performance would be similar for the work I do. My old PC has an ok CPU (3900X), but it (AM4 X370) has very limited PCIe, and it was gen 3 so I built a new PC instead of a drop-in 5950X upgrade. The work I do likes fast storage more than CPU power most of the time. The X99 that you are upgrading is the last truly great desktop, I loved my 5930K.

 

[Tetras]

If it wasn't for those Puget benchmarks, I'd probably be going for AMD.

The 7900 non-x does pretty well in GN's benches, admittedly without the 14700K, which is definitely a faster productivity CPU.

Crazy Good Efficiency: AMD Ryzen 9 7900 CPU Benchmarks & Thermals

Sponsor: Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut thermal paste (on Amazon - https://geni.us/JMVNtOE ) & Hydronaut for water cooling (Amazon - https://geni.us/Fsray )This re...

www.youtube.com

Given the option, I'd go for the 14700 too, but the 7900 non-X would be my second choice. Not sure how the IGP impacts performance though, since Intel's IGP can help with some workloads and I'm not sure if the Ryzen one can.

 

[Jiffy]

The 15th gen of Intel are at least 9 months away from what I'm seeing so forget that. Are new AMD Ryzen 9 chips even further away?

 

[jigger]

It’s hard to look past anything AMD right now. That might change 2026-7

 

[MartinPrince]

It’s hard to look past anything AMD right now. That might change 2026-7

For gaming yes but for other things like Adobe Premiere Pro then the answer is no.

Between the new Intel Core 14th Gen processors and AMD Ryzen 7000-series, Intel comes out on top in almost every case. Intel is particularly strong in specific workloads where Quick Sync comes into play (LongGOP codecs like H.264/HEVC), beating AMD by up to 30%. However, even in areas where Intel does not have an inherent advantage, they still lead by about 10%.

Adobe Premiere Pro: Intel Core 14th Gen vs AMD Ryzen 7000

Intel Core processors typically hold an edge over AMD in Premiere Pro due to Quick Sync, but how well do the new 14th Gen processors perform?

www.pugetsystems.com

 

[Rroff]

For gaming yes but for other things like Adobe Premiere Pro then the answer is no.

Thing is AMD have CPUs which are strong at gaming or strong at productivity tasks at around the 14700K price point if you want something which can comprehensively match or beat the 14700K all around you have to spend quite a bit more money.

Intel Core i7-14700K Review - Catching the 13900K

Intel Core i7-14700K is the only processor released today with an upgraded core configuration. Thanks to an additional four E-Cores, more cache and a 200 MHz frequency bump, the 14700K reaches performance quite close to the 13900K, at much better pricing.

www.techpowerup.com

The rather mediocre 14th gen has kind of overshadowed the 14700K which actually hangs in really well with the CPUs quite a bit more expensive - often only a 2-4% difference while in some cases being a clear 30% faster than the AMD options at a similar price point, the only exception to that really is the 7800X3D in... 720p gaming...

EDIT: Personally I think it makes the 14900K look a bit of a sick joke - you can easily get 2-4 core 6+GHz boost on the 14700K for gaming purposes even on air cooling and aside from some multi-threaded applications usually hangs in not far behind it at quite a bit less money.

 

[mattyfez]

I've been on my 5820k since 2016 so feeling it's time for an upgrade! I don't game but I am going to need a faster setup for content creation (mainly Premiere Pro). A 14700K would be a huge increase in speed but I'm put off by the following:
- complaints about heat and power consumption
- only incremental improvements over previous generations
- limited number of boards with Gen 5 M.2 support

My question is, would I better of waiting a few months? I could wait up to 6 months ok. Thanks!

EDIT: I have a Noctua DH-15 cooler already so will use that with a new adapter plate.

My two cents...

- complaints about heat and power consumption
Pretty much irrellevent outside of benchmarking or sustained heavy workloads, they are fine at idle and modertate workloads...I.e. not really an issue for gaming - an undervolt is also super easy to do and will shave double digits off your CPU peak temps & peak power draw at 100% sustained workloads with no loss of performance.

- only incremental improvements over previous generations
Well, yes, that is true but there's nothing incremental about going from gen5 to gen14, ... if you go intel, and want brand new, there's no reason not to get 14th gen.

- limited number of boards with Gen 5 M.2 support
Meh... unless you are shunting UTTERLY HUGE amounts of data back and forth on the regular, it really doesn't matter, just use 'decent' Gen4 M.2's

 

[Rroff]

- complaints about heat and power consumption
Pretty much irrellevent outside of benchmarking or sustained heavy workloads, they are fine at idle and modertate workloads...I.e. not really an issue for gaming - an undervolt is also super easy to do and will shave double digits off your CPU peak temps & peak power draw at 100% sustained workloads with no loss of performance.

Seems a bit of a mixed one - mine doesn't like under volting (EDIT: I've not really persisted with it but initial attempts weren't inspiring) - but I can easily get a 6GHz sustained boost in most gaming workloads without much additional power/heat over stock so swings and roundabouts. I've seen other people shave huge amounts of power draw off theirs with under volting without affecting performance.

The only time I really see crazy numbers though is doing something like Cinebench multithreaded benchmark - most real world uses temperatures and power draw are 30% lower or more.

 

[MartinPrince]

Thing is AMD have CPUs which are strong at gaming or strong at productivity tasks at around the 14700K price point if you want something which can comprehensively match or beat the 14700K all around you have to spend quite a bit more money.

Intel Core i7-14700K Review - Catching the 13900K

Intel Core i7-14700K is the only processor released today with an upgraded core configuration. Thanks to an additional four E-Cores, more cache and a 200 MHz frequency bump, the 14700K reaches performance quite close to the 13900K, at much better pricing.

www.techpowerup.com

The rather mediocre 14th gen has kind of overshadowed the 14700K which actually hangs in really well with the CPUs quite a bit more expensive - often only a 2-4% difference while in some cases being a clear 30% faster than the AMD options at a similar price point, the only exception to that really is the 7800X3D in... 720p gaming...

This is very true.

I've had the 7800X3D for several months; beautiful gaming CPU, great in so many ways though because I do much more than game, pound for pound the 13700k was a much better all round CPU for my overall usage. The fact that I could overclock it to 6.2Ghz boost meant it also caught up with the 7800X3D in the majority of games making it a no brainer for me.

The 7950X3D would be a better fit but costing 80% more and still being markedly slower in the many single threaded programs I use then it still couldn't be considered.

 

[FredFlint]

PCIe 5 is not a big deal now, in 2+ years it probably will be. I think we will see a lot of 2 lane gen 5 drives that perform better than the top end 4 lane gen 4 drives and cost the same or less. I intend to keep this PC for 5+ years so gen 5 was something I wanted as I only upgraded because the X370 was so PCIe limited. The longer you intend to keep the PC, the more important drop-in CPU upgrades and better PCIe support is. Also. For video work, I thought the bulk of the render work had shifted to the GPU now.

 

[jigger]

AM5 is a really nice platform for anything. Intel is too power hungry especially when paired with a highend GPU. I just can’t be bothered touching another Intel system until they have got their acts together.

 

[Rroff]

PCIe 5 is not a big deal now, in 2+ years it probably will be. I think we will see a lot of 2 lane gen 5 drives that perform better than the top end 4 lane gen 4 drives and cost the same or less. I intend to keep this PC for 5+ years so gen 5 was something I wanted as I only upgraded because the X370 was so PCIe limited. The longer you intend to keep the PC, the more important drop-in CPU upgrades and better PCIe support is. Also. For video work, I thought the bulk of the render work had shifted to the GPU now.

It is a consideration for the longer term, but with PCI-e 6.0 set to start rolling out in March you'd probably be better off waiting a bit if the future feature support is important.