The Intel Core i7-14790F is a China-exclusive CPU with 16 cores (8P + 8E), a 5.4GHz boost clock, and 36MB of L3 cache. Compared to the Core i7-14700K, it offers fewer E-cores (-4), slightly lower boost clocks (5.60GHz->5.40GHz P-core), but more cache (33MB->36MB). It has a lower power limit of 219W (vs. 253W) and costs 17% less than the 14700K. In the end, though, the Core i7-14790F is as fast as the 14700K in gaming workloads.
Testing conducted by mydrivers shows that the Core i7-14790F is 7% faster than the Core i5-14600K and as fast as the Core i7-14700K across a set of 12 games. The 14790F is faster than the 14700K in Horizon, Far Cry 5 & 6, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Hogwarts Legacy. In the rest of the games, the two chips perform similarly, or the 14700K pulls ahead, balancing the overall score.
The Core i7-14790F follows the Core i5-14490F (14600K with fewer E-cores) as Intel’s second China-exclusive 14th Gen CPU. Both feature a locked multiplier, lack an iGPU, and have a slightly lower “PL2” power limit than their standard counterparts. Games don’t rely on E-cores (P cores and cache), so they perform the same (or better) than their global variants in most gaming workloads.
