Thanks to a leaked benchmark, we have our first peek at the performance of Intel’s new E-Series line-up. As you might expect for a range dedicated to embedded systems, Intel Core i9-14901KE doesn’t quite match other flagship processors due to the absence of E cores.
According to a Geekbench 6 database entry, Core i9-14901KE delivers 3,018 single-core points and 16,308 multi-core points when running at around 5.4GHz. This puts it 26% lower than the fully-fledged i9-14900K in multi-core, or slightly slower than the i9-12900K. Since nothing changes on the P cores, single-core performance remains identical to the regular 14900K.
Core i9-14901KE is part of a large new series of CPUs, which also includes i7-14701E, i5-14501E, i5-14401E, and i5-14401EF. All of these lack the brand’s Gracemont E cores, as noted by their E suffix that stands for Embedded. Now, without E cores to further separate the stack, we get only two major designs: eight P cores on the i7 plus i9 models, and six P cores on the i5. That said, the frequency and power budget still play a role here, as the top i5 and i9 variants come with a higher base clock.
To put it simply, Core i9-14901KE is an i9-14900K but with disabled E cores. We lose 16 threads due to the missing E cores, which means that Windows background tasks will be funnelled to the P cores, like the old days. Whether this will impact its gaming capabilities or not is hard to say, but I bet it wouldn’t make much difference as eight cores are already enough for most titles.
What is sure is that professional apps, especially those that can leverage the E cores, will see a noticeable reduction in performance. And to a lesser extent, users who leave a lot of background tasks open while gaming will experience the same.
The main positive that comes out of these chips should be a lower price tag. After all, if you get less in the package, then you shouldn’t pay as much as the full-fat model. But as these are likely to be OEM exclusives, we’ll need to wait and see what systems housing E-Series sell for.