Intel Core i5-14400
At $225, the 14th-generation Intel Core i5-14400 offers the same productivity software and gaming performance as its predecessor. Despite lacking graphics, the i5-14400F variant costs $15 less than the $225 model and performs similarly. Additionally, cheaper DDR5 memory and motherboards have helped Ryzen surge back into the race for budget-conscious setups.
For those on a budget, AMD also offers the intriguing new Ryzen 7 5700X3D. These chips aren’t as effective in productivity applications because they are built on the Zen 3 architecture from the prior generation. Nevertheless, they provide a compelling alternative for individuals who are solely concerned in gaming, fitting into more reasonably priced AM4 motherboards and offering greater gaming performance than the Core i5-14400 or the Ryzen 5 7600X.
Using the same architectural foundations as its predecessor, Intel Core i5-14400 has six P-cores and four E-cores. The only improvements on the chip over the previous generation Core i5-13400, as you can see above, are a 100 MHz boost clock increase to 4.7 GHz and a 200 MHz boost to the E-core boost.
These small enhancements don’t seem to indicate that real-world performance will rise significantly over the previous generation of chips. Let’s see how our gaming and application testing with DDR4 and DDR5 RAM turns out in terms of performance.
Prices and Specifications for the Core i5-14400/F
The Raptor Lake Refresh design is fibbed on the “Intel 7” manufacturing node, just like the higher-end K-Series devices that Intel unveiled last year. This also applies to the lower-power models. Updated 13th-generation Raptor Lake CPUs from 2022 are used in Intel’s latest chips. Intel Core i9-14900K, i7-14700K, and i5-14600K evaluations detail the architecture.
| Street/MSRP | Cores / Threads (P+E) | P-Core Base / Boost Clock (GHz) | E-Core Base / Boost Clock (GHz) | Cache (L2/L3) | TDP / PBP / MTP | Memory | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core i5-14600K / KF | $319 (K) – $294 (KF) | 14 / 20 (6+8) | 3.5 / 5.3 | 2.6 / 4.0 | 44MB (20+24) | 125W / 181W | DDR4-3200 / DDR5-5600 |
| Ryzen 7 5800X3D | $340 | 8 / 16 | 3.4 / 4.5 | 104MB (8+96) | 105W | DDR4-3200 | |
| Ryzen 5 7600X | $210 | 6 / 12 | 4.7 / 5.3 | 38MB | 105W / 142W | DDR5-5200 | |
| Ryzen 5 7600 | $190 | 6 / 12 | 3.8 / 5.1 | 38MB (6+32) | 65W / 88W | DDR5-5200 | |
| Core i5-14400 / 14400F | $225 / $210 (F) | 10 / 16 (6+4) | 4.7 / 2.5 | 3.5 / 1.8 | 29.5MB (20+9.5) | 65W / 148W | DDR4-3200 / DDR5-4800 |
| Core i5-13400 / 13400F | $230 / $185 | 10 / 16 (6+4) | 2.5 / 4.6 | 1.8 / 3.3 | 29.5MB (9.5+20) | 65W / 148W | DDR4-3200 / DDR5-4800 |
| Ryzen 7 5700X3D | $245 | 8 / 16 | 3.0 / 4.1 | 100MB (4+96) | 105W | DDR4-3200 |
Intel’s F-series Core i5-14400F, which lacks the 24-EU integrated UHD Graphics 730 engine and requires a detached GPU, costs $15 less and performs similarly. Although many of the 13th generation boxed CPUs from Intel were recently decommissioned, the present price of $185 for the previous generation Core i5-13400F may not last long.
The latest Core i5 variants fit onto Intel’s 600 and 700-series motherboards, much like their K-Series predecessors did. However, the former is getting harder to get at fair pricing. Because the Intel Core i5-14400 is a 65W / 125W model, you should use motherboards from the B- and H-series, which are more reasonably priced.
With its Core i5 CPUs, Intel permits memory overclocking; nevertheless, multiplier overclocking is not possible (power restrictions can be raised, though). As with all overclocking, your mileage may vary, but Intel has also finally unlocked the System Agent (SA) voltage, meaning that if you’re willing to put in a little more effort to tune, you could achieve greater peak DDR4 speeds in Gear 1.
Although we usually advise purchasing a better cooler, the Laminar RM1 cooler that comes packed is at least functional. You will have to put up with a little more noise because the default cooler isn’t silent. When the power constraints are removed, the included cooler is sufficient for multi-threaded workloads and can manage the chip at the lower 65W/148W power limits.
Higher ambient temperatures and longer workloads may have an impact on performance. Therefore, choosing a less expensive air or water cooler may help you operate more efficiently throughout extended periods of time.
With the exception of compatibility for up to 192GB of RAM, the Core i5 models have a lower DDR5 transfer rate, measuring DDR5-4800 as opposed to DDR5-5200 found in the more powerful variants. This means that the Intel Core i5-14400 has most of the capabilities of the more powerful models. Support for DDR4 is still available at DDR4-3200, giving manufacturers a less expensive choice that, when using stock settings, offers performance that is almost identical to that of DDR5.
Any cost reductions are much less noticeable, though, as DDR5 pricing has significantly decreased since we examined the Core i5-13400 from the previous generation. Furthermore, the Ryzen 7 5700X3D, which also supports DDR4 and joins the reasonably priced AM4 ecosystem, presents a formidable rivalry for the Core i5-14400.
For most of the previous generation Core i5 processors, Intel used two different types of dies, both of which provided the same performance. The 14th-generation Intel Core i5-14400 and Core i3 models carry on with this approach. A 13th-generation Raptor Lake die or a C0 stepping 12th-generation Alder Lake die were the two types of dies available for the 13th generation. We bought our test sample at retail, and it’s a C0 die, which means it has the same design as the Alder Lake chips from the previous two generations but contains four more activated E-cores.
In addition, the Intel Core i5-14400 supports additional connectivity options like as USB 3.2 with up to 20 Gbps transfer rates and the same PCIe 5.0/4.0 lane allocations as the previous generation CPUs. Let us move on to the benchmarks.
