AMD Ryzen 9 7900 vs Intel Core I7 14700K: Which Is the Better CPU?

AMD Ryzen 9 7900 meets Core i7 14700K. Find out which one is better in gaming, benchmarks, and multithreading.

Table of Contents

The Ryzen 9 7900 is a 12-core, 24-threaded CPU with the Zen 4 architecture. The Core I7 14700K comes from the Raptor Lake refresh architecture. Multicore performance-wise, the Core 14700K takes the lead, but when it comes to efficiency and platform longevity, the 7900 wins. As for undervolting and tuning, both CPUs are equally appealing. That said, the comparison is stated below.

Also Read: Intel Core i5-14600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 7600X: Specs, Price, Performance, and More Compared

AMD Ryzen 9 7900 vs Intel Core I7 14700K: Detailed Comparison

Specs Comparison

Here are the specs of the Ryzen 9 7900 and the Intel Core i7 14700K:

Specifications	Ryzen 9 7900	Core I7 14700K
Architecture	Zen 4	Raptorlake Refresh
Core/Thread count	12/24	20 (8P+12E)/28
Max clock speed	5.4 GHz	5.6 GHz
L3 cache	64 MB	33 MB
RAM support	DDR5-5200	DDR5-5600
PCIe Gen support	Gen 5	Gen 5
Platform Socket	AM5	LGA 1700
Thermal design power (TDP)	65-88W (170W with PBO)	125-253W
Manufacturing nodes	5nm	10nm

Going by core counts, the 14700K easily surpasses the 7900 in this case. The same goes for Clockspeed and power limit. However, the 7900 can be tuned to match the 7900X, thus unlocking significant performance gains.

Synthetic Performance Comparison

Comparing the raw performance of the two CPUs, the 7900 on stock settings falls behind, but when you factor in PBO, the 7900 closes the gap significantly. Both of these CPUs will be closely matched, with Intel taking the lead in video editing tasks due to QuickSync support.

Benchmark	AMD Ryzen 9 7900	Core I7 14700K
Cinebench R23 Single-Core	2000	2100
Cinebench R23 Multi-Core	24,600 (28K+ with PBO)	35,000
Geekbench 6 Single-Core	2,870 (3000 with PBO)	2,932
Geekbench 6 Multi-Core	16500, (17500 with PBO)	18,890

Gaming Performance Comparison

The data is sourced from Testing Games’ YouTube channel, where the person conducted the tests with all the mentioned games at the max preset, using DDR5 6000MT/s Dual Channel Memory kit with the RTX 4090 at 1080p ultra settings.

Games	AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (PBO – 170W)	Core I7 14700K
Starfield	123 FPS	116 FPS
Cyberpunk: 2077	120 FPS	121 FPS
Hogwards Legacy	74 FPS	70 FPS

Disclaimer: The 14700K numbers are taken from a separate benchmark performed by Testing Games with the same setup, and only the games with identical benchmark scenes and settings are mentioned here. That said, the FPS numbers for the Ryzen 9 7900 are taken from benchmarks of the Ryzen 9 7900X, which runs at a 170W power limit. Why so? It’s because when the Ryzen 9 7900 is manually unlocked to the same power target using Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO), its performance matches that of the 7900X, which is why the results represent the 7900 when configured with a 170W limit — not the stock 65W-88W.

With the above info cleared out, both the CPUs at their current pricing are incredible value options. In terms of gaming, both are highly capable. The 14700K will pull ahead in games with a more stable experience due to its monolithic architecture, i.e., in large open-world games, there won’t be any micro stuttering or performance hiccups. If you are getting either the 7900 or the 14700K, make sure you undervolt, so that you can make your CPUs perform better, stay cooler, and not crash due to overvoltage (Intel).

Price Comparison

The Ryzen 9 7900 currently retails at Amazon.com for $333, and the Core i7 14700K for $317. Pricing information is accurate as of August 2 and can change without notice. For both CPUs, the used market offers superb deals, including motherboards and low-latency RAM kits.

Final Verdict on AMD Ryzen 9 7900 vs AMD Ryzen 9 9900X

There is no outright clear winner when picking between these two CPUs. But yes, the LGA 1700 platform with the 14700K is pretty much a dead end, whereas if you go for the 7900, you get the AM5 platform, which will be relevant for a long time in the future, making it the more sensible choice.

Also Read: Intel Core i5-14500 vs AMD Ryzen 5 7600: Specs, Price, Performance, and More Compared

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AMD Ryzen 9 7900 vs Intel Core I7 14700K: Which Is the Better CPU?