An Intel Core i9-14901KE engineering sample has been tested under air and sub-zero cooling, showing performance on par with a Core i9-14900K with all its E-cores disabled. Reviewed by bilibili user WestmereX, the CPU was able to reach 7.4GHz when overclocked.
Unlike its consumer counterpart, this unreleased Raptor Lake Refresh processor features eight P-Cores and 16 threads, but no E-Cores. Out of the box, it comes configured with a 3.8GHz base clock, 5.8GHz boost clock, and a 125W base power target. Most notably, unlike comparable embedded chips, such as the Core i9-14901E and Core i9-14901TE, the Core i9-14901KE comes with an unlocked multiplier, which allows it to be overclocked.
Before cranking up the frequency, WestmereX tested its stock condition in Cinebench R23, where it scored 2,184 points in the single-core test and 23,024 points in the multi-core test. This puts its single-core performance between the Core Ultra 5 245K and Core i9-14900HX, and its multi-core performance between the Core i7-12700K and Ryzen 7 9700X.
Overall, the Core i9-14901KE is equivalent to a Core i9-14900K with all its 16 E-Cores disabled, which isn’t surprising given their similar architecture, P-Core configuration, and power rating. During the test, the CPU operated at a 5.5GHz all-core frequency while consuming about 190W at 1.225V.
Next, WestmereX overclocked the Core i9-14901KE to 5.8GHz, which netted about a 6% boost in multi-core performance, at the cost of power draw increasing to 269W. Then came the big test with sub-zero cooling, where the processor remained stable up to 7.4GHz, although the frequency had to be dialled down a bit to finish a validation test run. In the end, WestmereX managed to secure a 4.641-second run in Super Pi at 6.9GHz using DDR5-8120 CL30 memory.
Considering its stability at high frequencies and fast memory support, it appears that Intel has terminated the Core i9-14901KE development at an advanced stage. This chip’s existence also confirms that Intel was considering an unlocked P-Core-only option for the embedded market, before changing its mind.
