INTEL’S 14th generation is to be joined by the Intel Core i9-14900KS Special Edition, which buzzes along at a maximum boost speed of 6.2GHz, breaking the 6GHz barrier and becoming the world’s fastest processor.
The base clock is a more pedestrian 3.2GHz. Otherwise, it’s the same chip as the 6.0GHz i9-14900K, so we have 24 cores, with eight performance and 16 efficiency cores, for a grand total of 32 threads. It draws more power at 300W-400W, compared to the K chip’s maximum Turbo Power draw of 253W. This is a lot of power, with liquid cooling advised, if not required.
Samples have appeared online, including running all its performance cores at 5.9GHz. It had an average temperature of 96 C, with a peak of 101 C, and managed an average power draw of 330 W, peaking just shy of 410 W. Apparently, Intel has had to fiddle with core voltages to reach such heights, bumping it to 1.5 volts, and it shows. The cost of its gaming prowess is reportedly $749, a full $160 extra for 200MHz. We want one, because who wouldn’t want to be running this if they could? Expect a new round of benchmark records when people who like that sort of thing get hold of them.