Intel Core i5-14400 vs i5-14401E: Which is best for gaming?
Intel has silently launched a new variant of the 14th Gen CPU called Intel Core i5-14401E. This launch was certainly a surprise, considering how Intel Arrow Lake 15th Gen processors are due for launch by the end of this year. However, the new CPU is here, and it comes with P-cores only and drops support for hybrid cores layout. That being said, how does it compare to the existing Core i5 -14400?
That's what we are going to find out in this article through an in-depth comparison of the two processors.
Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and solely reflect the writer's opinions.
Intel Core i5-14400 vs i5-14401E
Both Intel Core i5-14400 and i5-14401E are based on the same Raptor Lake Refresh architecture, but the two CPUs are polar opposites when it comes to their core configuration layouts. The former has a hybrid core layout, while the latter has a standard core configuration. Let's look at their specs to get a better understanding.
Specs comparison
Here are the specs of Intel Core i5-14400 and i5-14401E:
Performance difference
From the specs, it is evident that the only difference between the two CPUs is in the core configuration. The Intel Core i5-14401E doesn't have E-cores, but the i5-14400 does. But how does this affect performance? In productivity, 3D rendering, or video editing workloads, the new processor will be slower than the Core i5-14400 since it lacks E-cores.
The absence of E-cores will seriously hurt the performance of the Intel Core i5-14401E in productivity. However, the impact of E-cores not being there will be completely different in gaming. That's because gaming is more sensitive to core clock speed and latency than the number of cores available. So, the lack of E-cores may not hurt gaming performance.
To understand this better, you must learn what happens when you disable E-cores during gaming. According to a test conducted by the Hardware Unboxed channel on YouTube, here's what happens:
Note: For this test, Hardware Unboxed used the Intel Core i9-12900K, which was the latest CPU at that time.
As you can see, the performance saw an increase in most games when the E-cores in Intel Core i9-12900K were disabled.
The P-cores and E-cores are in separate clusters, and data has to travel between the two. This increases latency and lowers gaming performance. This did not become a problem in this scenario since the E-cores were disabled, and that's why there was a boost in performance.
In some games, particularly Starcraft II and Age of Empires IV, the performance decreases without E-cores. However, the average score of the Intel Core i9-12900K with E-cores disabled is still about 15% better in gaming.
The Intel Core i5-14401E's case should be similar since it doesn't have E-cores. It should perform better than the Core i5-14400 in gaming but might turn up second in productivity. However, we cannot be entirely certain since the new processor hasn't gone on sale yet, and no tests have been performed.
Price comparison
The Intel Core i5-14400 currently costs $238. The Core i5-14401E should cost slightly below that since it will have a lower core count, but the pricing is not out yet.
Final verdict of Intel Core i5-14400 vs i5-14401E
The Intel Core i5-14401E will be the better CPU for gaming. That's because it will have lower latency than the Core i5-14400, which increases the gaming performance, as seen in the test above. It should also cost less when it launches, but its productivity performance will be lower.