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The Ryzen 9 9900X and Intel Core i7 14700K are priced similarly, but which is better? Which one should gamers buy? Find out here.
The Ryzen 9 9900X and Intel Core i7 14700K are two high-end CPUs designed to deliver near-flagship-level performance in both productivity and gaming. They are both available for purchase in the $300 to $400 price bracket. Therefore, these two processors are not cheap. If you are paying that much, you ought to get the best.
Which is the better CPU, and which one should you buy for gaming? Well, that’s exactly what we plan to answer in this article with a detailed comparison of the two processors. Read on to learn more.
Note: Parts of this article are subjective and reflect the writer’s opinions.
Ryzen 9 9900X vs Intel Core i7 14700K: Detailed Comparison
The Ryzen 9 9900X is designed on AMD’s latest Zen 5 architecture and has 12 cores. On the other hand, the Intel Core i7 14700K is built on the refresh of the Raptor Lake architecture, which is a bit older in 2025 but still quite capable. It has a total of 20 cores. Let’s look at the other specs of the two CPUs to get a general idea of what they are capable of.
Specs Comparison
Here are the specs of the Ryzen 9 9900X and the Intel Core i7 14700K:
| Specifications | AMD Ryzen 9 9900X | Intel Core i7 14700K |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Zen 5 | Raptor Lake Refresh |
| P-Core/Thread count | 12/24 | 8/16 |
| E-Core/Thread count | — | 12/12 |
| Total Core/Thread count | 12/24 | 20/28 |
| Max clock speed | 5.6 GHz | 5.6 GHz |
| L3 cache | 64 MB | 33 MB |
| RAM support | DDR5-5600 | DDR4-3200 DDR5-5600 |
| PCIe Gen support | Gen 5 | Gen 5 |
| Platform Socket | AM5 | LGA 1700 |
| Thermal design power (TDP) | 120W Typical | 162W Max | 125W Typical | 253W Max |
| Manufacturing nodes | 4nm, 6nm | 10nm |
According to the specs table, the Intel Core i7 14700K has a huge core count advantage, while the Ryzen 9 9900X has a cache advantage. The Intel CPU has another benefit: support for both DDR4 and DDR5, providing gamers with more choices. Now, it’s time we put the specs aside and look at some actual performance differences.
Synthetic Performance Comparison
Here’s how the Ryzen 9 9900X and Intel Core i7 14700K perform in popular synthetic benchmarks:
| Benchmarks | AMD Ryzen 9 9900X | Intel Core i7 14700K |
|---|---|---|
| Cinebench R23 (Single-Core) | 2232 | 2072 |
| Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core) | 33042 | 34895 |
| Geekbench 6 (Single-Core) | 3340 | 3012 |
| Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core) | 19543 | 20262 |
| Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core) | 4672 | 4472 |
| Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core) | 54619 | 52359 |
The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is about 7% faster in single-core benchmarks on average than the Intel Core i7 14700K. However, in multi-core benchmarks, the former delivers only 0.2% more performance than the latter, which is just a margin of error. Therefore, despite a small lead in single-core benchmarks, the two CPUs should perform equally in productivity.
Game Performance Comparison
Here’s how the Ryzen 9 9900X and Intel Core i7 14700K handle some of the popular games on the market:
| Games | AMD Ryzen 9 9900X | Intel Core i7 14700K |
|---|---|---|
| Baldur’s Gate 3 | 95 FPS | 103 FPS |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 90 FPS | 109 FPS |
| Dragon Age The Veilguard | 138 FPS | 148 FPS |
| Forza Horizon 5 | 232 FPS | 233 FPS |
| S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Heart of Chornobyl | 72 FPS | 81 FPS |
| Total War Saga Troy | 123 FPS | 139 FPS |
Note: The two CPUs were tested at 1080p resolution with the RTX 4090 GPU to eliminate any GPU bottleneck. All FPS numbers were sourced from the GECID Benchmarks channel on YouTube.
On average, the Intel Core i7 14700K delivers 8.4% more performance than the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X. Therefore, the Intel CPU is the better choice for gaming. The difference isn’t too big, but it’s noticeable.
Price Comparison
The Intel Core i7 14700K is currently selling for $319.99 on Newegg and Amazon, while the lowest price of AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is $360 on Amazon. The latter costs more on Newegg. The Intel CPU is around $41 cheaper.
Final Verdict on Ryzen 9 9900X vs Intel Core i7 14700K
The Intel Core i7 14700K is 8.4% better than the Ryzen 9 9900X in gaming, but their productivity performance is extremely similar. The Intel CPU is also $41 cheaper. It supports both DDR4 and DDR5 RAM, so gamers have more options to choose from. Therefore, we recommend users buy the Intel Core i7 14700K, as it’s the better choice in terms of both gaming and pricing.
Also, there is no upgrade path for the Intel Core i7 14700K. In other words, if you ever want to upgrade this Intel CPU, you will have to buy a new processor and motherboard. On the other hand, the Ryzen 9 9900X is based on the AM5 motherboard, which will support future Zen 6 processors and maybe more. However, AMD has explicitly mentioned this, so there’s no certainty about what the future holds. Therefore, it is better to buy a CPU based on what it delivers now.
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