Intel has reportedly rolled out its China market-exclusive Core i7-14790F "Black Edition" CPU—MEGAsizeGPU tweeted out an initial glimpse of the decidedly not-very-Team-Blue outer packaging. A Core i7-14700F desktop processor was included in an announced list at CES 2024 and launched via global retail channels a few days ago, but its somewhat similarly monikered "Black Edition" appears to be region specific (also notably absent from last week's trade show). Intel's Core i7-14790F's nomenclature would suggest that its sits just a little bit above the i7-14700F in Raptor Lake Refresh's hierarchy, but the "Black Edition" specifications paint an odd picture. As noted by Tom's Hardware: "This CPU has an odd configuration since it has fewer cores and more cache than the Core i7-14700F, contrary to what its SKU would imply to be a higher-spec variant. "

The Core i7-14790K is currently priced at 2909 RMB (on JD.com) which converts to ~$410 (USD). The Core i7-14700F's asking price is roughly ten dollars more, which nets you a 16-core processor that packs 8 performance cores, 12 efficiency cores and 28 threads. Chinese buyers are presented with the slightly cheaper Core i7-14790F and its curiosity specs: 16 total cores comprised of 8 performance cores, 8 efficiency cores and 24 threads. Both F-models share the same list of clock speeds, but the Black Edition does slightly better with an overall total of 36 MB Intel Smart Cache (versus 33 MB)—in turn it loses out in L2 cache designation (24 vs. 28 MB). Tom's Hardware has kindly assembled a comparison table (see below).