Intel's latest processor series, the 14700K, and the Raptor Lake Refresh, has recently hit the market, but early reviews suggest a mixed reception. While Intel has been striving to regain its footing in the gaming processor competition after AMD's groundbreaking X3D technology, this new series may not be the leap forward some were expecting.

When we stack the 14700K against its predecessor, the 13700K, it's difficult to spot significant differences, especially in gaming performance. In the realm of value, the new processors seem to be underwhelming. Giving us, at most, 3% uplift from its previous generation. In applications that require substantial processing power, you might see an improvement of around 7%, but even this is not earth-shattering.

For gamers, the uplift in performance is marginal, and when pitted against AMD's 7800X3D, the cost-benefit ratio becomes questionable. Let’s not even get into the power efficiency between the two. As AMD has had the lead on power efficiency for months now.

Gamers interested in an in-depth analysis of the processor's gaming performance can turn to Gamers Nexus on YouTube, where they have an excellent test suite comparing all modern CPU’s.

Our advice for potential buyers? If you're in the market for a new processor and don't already possess a Raptor Lake processor, the original Raptor Lake models might be the better option. They provide similar performance without the premium price tag that accompanies the "new" Raptor Lake Refresh processors. This is only if you absolutely have to go with Intel for some reason. As AMD’s X3D CPUs are the better buy overall.