Core i5-14600K
Model frame rate limit of 165 FPS. That is roughly the fastest this processor can feed a graphics card in a modern AAA title, no matter which card you fit.
A fourteen-core Raptor Lake Refresh chip that mixes six performance cores with eight efficiency cores. It is fast in games and in multi-threaded work, and needs a capable cooler when pushed.
At 1440p it can keep up with a card as fast as the GeForce RTX 5080.
Frame Rate Limit in Popular Games
| Game (settings) | Most FPS the Core i5-14600K can feed |
|---|---|
| Cyberpunk 2077 (High, no ray tracing) | ~140 |
| Fortnite (High, DirectX 12) | ~205 |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (High) | ~180 |
| Counter-Strike 2 (High) | ~365 |
Modelled estimates with an unlimited graphics card, rounded to the nearest 5 FPS. Your real frame rate is the lower of this and what your card can render. See the methodology.
Best match at each resolution
| Resolution | Closest matched card | Estimated FPS |
|---|---|---|
| 1080p | Radeon RX 7900 XTX | 165 |
| 1440p | GeForce RTX 4090 | 160 |
| 4K | GeForce RTX 5090 | 139 |
"Closest matched" means the two parts run out of headroom at about the same frame rate, so neither is obviously wasted. A faster card is still worth buying if you plan to raise the resolution later.
The cards it lands closest to
The 24 graphics cards whose frame rate limit sits nearest this processor's, fastest first. Anything faster than the top of this table is wasted on it at 1080p, and anything slower is a card it will never trouble. For any other combination, use the calculator.
| Graphics card | 1080p | 1440p | 4K |
|---|---|---|---|
| GeForce RTX 5090 | 165 cpu | 165 cpu | 139 gpu |
| GeForce RTX 4090 | 165 cpu | 160 even | 108 gpu |
| GeForce RTX 5080 | 165 cpu | 149 gpu | 99 gpu |
| GeForce RTX 4080 Super | 165 even | 136 gpu | 88 gpu |
| Radeon RX 7900 XTX | 165 even | 134 gpu | 86 gpu |
| GeForce RTX 4080 | 164 even | 133 gpu | 86 gpu |
| GeForce RTX 5070 Ti | 156 gpu | 125 gpu | 79 gpu |
| Radeon RX 9070 XT | 156 gpu | 125 gpu | 79 gpu |
| Radeon RX 7900 XT | 153 gpu | 122 gpu | 77 gpu |
| GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super | 152 gpu | 120 gpu | 76 gpu |
| GeForce RTX 3090 Ti | 149 gpu | 118 gpu | 74 gpu |
| GeForce RTX 4070 Ti | 143 gpu | 112 gpu | 70 gpu |
| GeForce RTX 3090 | 143 gpu | 112 gpu | 70 gpu |
| Radeon RX 9070 | 143 gpu | 112 gpu | 70 gpu |
| GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | 141 gpu | 110 gpu | 68 gpu |
| Radeon RX 6950 XT | 139 gpu | 109 gpu | 67 gpu |
| GeForce RTX 5070 | 136 gpu | 106 gpu | 65 gpu |
| GeForce RTX 4070 Super | 138 gpu | 106 gpu | 64 gpu |
| GeForce RTX 3080 12GB | 136 gpu | 106 gpu | 65 gpu |
| Radeon RX 7900 GRE | 136 gpu | 106 gpu | 65 gpu |
| GeForce RTX 3080 | 132 gpu | 102 gpu | 62 gpu |
| Radeon RX 6900 XT | 132 gpu | 102 gpu | 62 gpu |
| Radeon RX 7800 XT | 130 gpu | 100 gpu | 60 gpu |
| Radeon RX 6800 XT | 127 gpu | 98 gpu | 59 gpu |
The tag after each number says which part hits its limit first.
Core i5-14600K Compared
- Core i5-14600K vs Ryzen 7 7800X3D — The Ryzen 7 7800X3D is about 13% faster in games than the Core i5-14600K (186 vs 165 FPS frame rate limit).
- Core i5-14600K vs Ryzen 5 9600X — The Core i5-14600K and Ryzen 5 9600X are effectively tied in games, with frame rate limits of 165 and 169 FPS.
- Core Ultra 5 245K vs Core i5-14600K — The Core i5-14600K is about 3% faster in games than the Core Ultra 5 245K (165 vs 160 FPS frame rate limit).
Specifications
| Manufacturer | Intel |
| Generation | Intel 14th Gen (Raptor Lake Refresh) |
| Cores | 14 |
| Threads | 20 |
| Released | 2023 |
Other Intel 14th Gen (Raptor Lake Refresh) Processors
- Core i7-14700 bottleneck and GPU pairing
- Core i7-14700F bottleneck and GPU pairing
- Core i7-14700K bottleneck and GPU pairing
- Core i9-14900K bottleneck and GPU pairing
Common Questions
Is the Core i5-14600K good for an RTX 5070?
Yes. At 1440p the RTX 5070 is the limit, not the Core i5-14600K, at around 106 FPS in our model. That is the balance you want in a gaming PC.
What is the best GPU for the Core i5-14600K?
At 1440p, the GeForce RTX 4090 is the closest match: the two run out of headroom at about the same frame rate, so neither is wasted. A faster card still makes sense if you play at 4K, where the processor matters less.
Is the Core i5-14600K still good for gaming?
Yes. With a model frame rate limit of 165 FPS it is among the faster gaming processors we track, and it will feed a high-end card at 1440p.
Will the Core i5-14600K bottleneck an RTX 5080?
Not meaningfully. At 1440p the RTX 5080 is still the limit in our model, at around 149 FPS.