INTEL’S 14TH GEN has been a pretty poorly received product since its launch. From a step-change standpoint, there’s not really alot to shout about. Yes, Intel has managed to do some interesting stuff when it comes to thread scheduling via its new APO tech (Application Optimization), but even that’s a fairly minor addition at this point given it’s only available for certain games and technologies (in fact, one of the two games it’s enabled on is in our testing suite, Metro Exodus, and as you can see from our results, we’re actually getting lower figures than from the MSI 8K build from our Holiday 2022 issue).
Compared to the 13900KS, or even the 13900K, there’s just nothing here that really warrants upgrading to it, unless you’re five or six generations behind at this point. The problem is that even then, given the high price point and lack of advancements, you’re likely much better off picking up an Intel Core i9-13900K instead, as it’ll undoubtedly become cheaper in the following months, particularly around Black Friday and Prime Day periods.