intel i7-14700k with 4080s a good idea?
Posted by WonderfulStorm6168@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 22 comments
Hello everyone, I'm thinking about upgrading my CPU from i5 12600k to i7 14700k. I am limited to Intel and max 14th gen because of my motherboard and RAM. I pair it with a 4080s.
I have been reading conflicting reports about the Intel i7-14700k. Would it be a sensible buy in 2026? I have found a deal for about 270 euros.
Love to hear your feedback on this, as I'm not very experienced in building pc's.
mangixbrewmastert@reddit
For gaming with a 4080 Super, the upgrade from a 12600K to a 14700K will honestly give you pretty minimal gains, the 12600K is still a strong gaming CPU and won't bottleneck your GPU meaningfully.
That said, if €270 is for a new retail unit, the instability concerns are largely a non-issue , newer production chips shipped with fixed microcode and the BIOS updates from motherboard vendors resolved the power delivery problems. Just make sure to update BIOS before installing though
If it's used, I'd be more cautious. A chip that's already been stressed under bad conditions ( prepatch BIOS) may have degraded.
Bottom line: new at €270 is a decent deal if you want the upgrade, just don't expect a huge gaming fps difference over your 12600K.
greggm2000@reddit
Yet, I still see reports of CPU failures with Raptor Lake, even with new parts. As an owner of a 12700K, no way am I considering a 13th or 14th gen CPU. Better to wait for Intel’s Nova Lake or AMD’s Zen 6 X3D CPUs, both are expected in 6 to 9 months from now, and both are expected to offer a big jump in performance. Yeah, you’ll have to buy DDR5, that is a big downside, but there isn’t really an alternative, not if you want a substantial boost in performance.
mangixbrewmastert@reddit
Also I am a bit hesitant to go from arrow lake to nova lake. DDR6 is coming in say 2 to 3 years. New mobo + new cpu again. 😅
greggm2000@reddit
No, DDR6 is more like 4-5 years away, we’ll see it with Zen 8 and whatever Intel offers around that time. If you go with Nova Lake in early 2027, by the time DDR6 platforms are out, you might very well be considering your next upgrade anyway.
mangixbrewmastert@reddit
last i heard was enterprise ddr6 in 2027-2028, consumer ddr6 wont be too far off provided there would be availabilty, right?
greggm2000@reddit
Here is the latest leak/rumor, that mentions a 2028/2029 Enterprise launch, and consumer normally trails by a couple years. Besides, large caches do seem to generally mitigate slower RAM/less RAM bandwidth concerns, in games and most other non-enterprise workloads.. not all, obviously, but I think AMD and Intel both figure that if you want to do "Enterprise-y" stuff, you'll shell out for their very expensive enterprise CPUs/platforms.
mangixbrewmastert@reddit
hmmm, i was saving up for a pretty neat CUDIMM, maybe I buy that after i swtich to nova lake. "BLLC" who comes up with these names.....
greggm2000@reddit
CUDIMM is a form-factor, probably we'll see that commercially with DDR6 first, or maybe it will be SODIMM2 instead. There's various possibilities.
bLLC is Intel's equivalent to AMD's X3D. "bLLC" stands for "big Last Level Cache". The names make sense, if you think about it. Certainly for gaming, any Nova Lake CPU with bLLC will be the ones to get if you want to stay Intel.
mangixbrewmastert@reddit
Well the improvement is minimal as I stated. Would be pointless 290 euros upgrade.
greggm2000@reddit
Agreed
b-maacc@reddit
I wouldn’t buy a used 14700K but a new 14600L or 14700K are good upgrades and pair well with the 4080S.
Faps_Into_Socks@reddit
Thinking of getting 14th gen myself. Currently use a i9 11900k with 4080s and was waiting to see the Ryzen 7 5800X3D rerelease price before deciding.
Antenoralol@reddit
You have no way of telling if the seller did the necessary bios updates to mitigate the damage that the 14th gen issues caused.
I personally wouldn't touch a used 13/14th gen 600K or higher with a 10ft barge pole.
Tiny-Extreme-9980@reddit
I think you can go with i5-14600k as well, or 14600 non-k because those have no issues at all. My 14600k is great with Phantom Spirit and latest bios update
Mr_Henry_Yau@reddit
Before you plan on upgrading to an i7-14700K, which motherboard do you currently have?
Impossible-Move-2096@reddit
14700K is strong, but risky. ⚡ If it’s new at €270, solid deal. If used, those 13/14th gen oxidization issues make it sketchy. With a 4080S, you’ll get plenty of performance either way.
sonsofevil@reddit
Iam running this configuration and love it since two years! I would recommend!
CPU new: no problem. Just update BIOS CPU used: hard to tell if there’s a problem with the CPU, but if it’s not delided or lapped, you can just rma in worst case, because they have 5 years of waranty
WonderfulStorm6168@reddit (OP)
Thank you for your reply. I can buy a new one for 300 euros, so that would be the better deal.
VariousTwo6631@reddit
As long as the i7 is new. But I would save the money and some more and wait for the upcoming nova lake-s. Not sure how big of a performance difference the i7 would give, even though it's two generations newer
arkanovac@reddit
if you buy the cpu brand new and update the motherboard bios youll be fine, just dont buy used
TheTeflonDude@reddit
My 14600k rocks with my 4080s
According_Spare7788@reddit
Is it used? I personally wouldn't buy used. The oxidization issues with the 13/14th gen i9/i7s are so notorious that i personally wouldn't trust a used chip all that much. It's not something a bios update can fix if it's already exhibiting problems.
You could be fine, you could be not. If it's still under warranty, at least you have a backup plan, but that would still leave you stranded and at the whim of Intels customer support for a possible RMA request.