Question Is i9-14900 not good for gaming?

[Franknj229]

I was reading other threads, in other forums on this site, so I wouldn't have to ask questions that were already answered, and I came across a critique of someone's prospective build for a "really good gaming computer".

He had an i9-14900 on his list. Someone responded that they wouldn't recommend the 14900 for gaming, and suggested the Intel Core i7-14700F 2.1 GHz 20-Core Processor instead.

My question is, does the CPU Thread Community here agree? More importantly, can you explain why? I just assumed, newer, faster, better...?

I don't want something that's just good enough now. I want something that will be plenty good enough for at least a few years.

My prospective build, and what I'm using it for below:

CPU: Intel - Core i9-14900K Raptor Lake 3.2GHz Twenty Four-Core LGA 1700
CPU cooler: Noctua - NH-D15S Chromax Black
Motherboard: Gigabyte - Z790 AORUS Elite X WiFi 7 Intel LGA 1700 ATX
Ram: Corsair - Vengeance 64GB (2 x 32GB) DDR5-6000 PC5-48000 CL30 Dual Channel
SSD/HDD: Crucial - T705 2TB Micron 232L TLC NAND PCIe Gen 5 x4 NVMe M.2 Internal SSD
GPU: Gigabyte - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Super Windforce V2 Triple Fan 16GB GDDR6X PCIe 4.0
PSU: Lian Li - Edge 850 Watt 80 Plus Platinum ATX Fully Modular
Chassis: Lian Li - Lancool 216 Tempered Glass ATX Mid-Tower
OS: Microsoft - Windows 11 Home 64-Bit FPP USB
Monitor: MSI - MPG 321URX 32" 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) 240Hz Gaming Monitor

My goal with this build is to not have to worry about upgrading for awhile. 75% of the time I use my computer for very basic stuff (internet, editing travel videos and drone footage, microsoft office applications, etc...) The other 25% of the time would be for gaming. I'm not a professional or anything, but I would like to play at, or close to, the highest settings, and if something new comes out in the next year or two, I don't want to worry if my system can handle it. (I'm mostly into Fallout/Elder Scrolls/CIV type stuff, but co-workers want me to join them for some Fortnight/CoD)

 

[NightHawkRMX]

To start, the 14900k is not recommended as the i9 14900k and 13900k have fairly well documented reliability issues that immediately should make you take them off of your shopping list, even though the issue is allegedly resolved at this point. This is especially the case since you want it to last a few years.

Rarely does going from an i7 to an i9 yield you any significant performance increase in all but a very few niche circumstances. At 4k especially, your 4080 super is almost always going to be the limiting factor in performance, meaning the performance difference between the i7 and i9 will not impact your performance in games. For down the road as games get more demanding, you may see some benefit from the i9, but its unlikely unless you upgrade the GPU to whatever is available years from now. Even then it will likely be slight.

 

[Franknj229]

To start, the 14900k is not recommended as the i9 14900k and 13900k have fairly well documented reliability issues that immediately should make you take them off of your shopping list, even though the issue is allegedly resolved at this point. This is especially the case since you want it to last a few years.

Rarely does going from an i7 to an i9 yield you any significant performance increase in all but a very few niche circumstances. At 4k especially, your 4080 super is almost always going to be the limiting factor in performance, meaning the performance difference between the i7 and i9 will not impact your performance in games. For down the road as games get more demanding, you may see some benefit from the i9, but its unlikely unless you upgrade the GPU to whatever is available years from now. Even then it will likely be slight.

Thank you for the reply. I appreciate it. And this is totally on me, but I'm not sure if I completely understand how to utilize this information for my build though, so let me know if I'm on the right track here:

Regarding the CPU... Right now, for my purposes, there isn't much advantage to the i9 over the i7. There might be in the long run, but only if the reliability issues have indeed been resolved. So I'm basically rolling the dice? If I go with the i7, in two years I might need to upgrade. If I go with the i9 and there are issues, I might wish I went with the i7.

As for the GPU... Are you saying the 4080 Super is not all that powerful? Not that I necessarily need/want 4k capability right now, but the 4080 is pretty darn near the top of the line. Is the 4090 a big enough difference to justify the big jump in price for my build? Should I be waiting for the 50s? Or are you suggesting an AMD build?

Thanks again!

 

[Lafong]

At one time, I saw a list of Intel CPUs that might be affected by the well known reliability issue. I don't have the link.

As I recall, you can have "issues" with the i7 or i9. I think less so on the i5?

Or not.

To that extent you are "rolling the dice". 1 chance in 7, 70, or 700? Not knowable with any accuracy. If you take the chance and it goes against you, would you shrug it off?

Maybe the fix worked. Opinions differ. Pre-conceived notions prevail, as you might expect.

It's entirely possible the CPU will be the least of your worries.

Your crystal ball will remain cloudy. It's tough for anyone but you to evaluate your own nervousness or how indifferent you might be to diminishing returns as you pay more money for minor performance advantages.....with the "reliability issue" hanging over your head.

 

[dwd999]

I would never recommend an F cpu since way too many people here have problems and can't diagnose the cause because they can't remove their gpu and access the cpu's internal graphics.

 

[geofelt]

The issues with the 13/14 gen processors have been identified and fixed.
https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-c...re-instability-has-been-fixed-no-more-updates
The only requirement is to install the latest motherboard bios.

In addition, the warranty on these products have been extended by 2 years.

For desktop work, there is little base performance difference between the i9-14900 and the 14900K.
The 14900K has a default clock about 2% higher than the 14900.
And, of course, the 14900K can be overclocked.
For batch work where all 32 threads are fully loaded, the 14900K capability is some 20% better.

Your build looks good to me.