A recent leak on Geekbench has provided insights into Intel’s upcoming 14th Gen Core i5-14450HX laptop CPU. Positioned as an entry-level option within the Raptor Lake refresh family, this chip is specifically designed to cater to budget-conscious laptop gamers. It is part of the 14th Gen Raptor Lake-HX Refresh CPUs, which are tailored for gaming laptops but also have potential applications in productivity and content creation.
The 14th Gen HX lineup from Intel is focused on delivering high-performance gaming capabilities. Unlike Intel’s Meteor Lake CPUs, which target mainstream and low-power platforms, the HX lineup offers more cores, higher clock speeds, premium cooling solutions, and support for discrete graphics. While the 14th Gen HX CPUs do not include an AI NPU like the Meteor Lake CPUs, this omission is justified as gaming currently does not significantly benefit from such cores.
It is worth noting that the onboard iGPU of the 14th Gen HX CPUs features 32 Execution Units based on the older Xe graphics architecture. Although Intel has made significant advancements with its new Xe-LPG architecture, there are currently no plans to introduce these high-end iGPUs to the HX lineup. However, future developments may be influenced by AMD’s Strix Point, which is expected to feature premium SKUs with higher core counts and more substantial GPUs on the same chip.
In terms of performance, the Intel Core i5-14450HX CPU offers a modest 200 MHz increase over its predecessor, the Core i5-13450HX. As a result, the performance gains are expected to be nominal, with an estimated improvement of around 5% at best. Despite this, the Core i5-14450HX is poised to become a popular choice among mainstream laptop gamers.
However, competitive pricing will be crucial for Intel, especially with AMD’s Dragon Range HX lineup already in the market and the impending launch of the next-gen Fire Range HX series. The gaming laptop market is becoming increasingly competitive, and consumers can expect a dynamic landscape with a wide array of options to suit their needs.
Overall, Intel’s 14th Gen Core i5-14450HX CPU offers an entry-level option for budget-conscious laptop gamers. While the performance gains may not be groundbreaking, it still provides a solid gaming experience for mainstream users. As the market evolves, it will be interesting to see how Intel responds to competition and whether they introduce higher-end iGPUs to their HX lineup. For now, consumers can look forward to a vibrant and diverse gaming laptop market with plenty of choices to meet their gaming needs.
