I currently have a Intel Core i5-12400F (bought a pre built from Starforge) and am thinking of upgrading to an Intel i9-14900K or KF and I’m wondering what steps I need to take in regards to preparation and during installation
I bought a bit of thermal paste a while back that was a corsair one that I saw in Walmart for cheap, but if I need better I’ll get better, I also have a Arctic Freezer 36 Air Cooler
last i saw those high end i9s run hot as hell so make sure your cooler has the capacity for it, otherwise youre good
‘Good’ as in it will probably work, but getting a KF is unnecessary unless the motherboard suppkrts it and if OP wants to overclock.
And assuming the prebuilt has proper power overhead means TDP won’t be an issue but it’s worth keeping an eye on.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/236773/intel-core-i9-processor-14900k-36m-cache-up-to-6-00-ghz/specifications.html specifies Max TDP during Turbo Boost as 253W while https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/air-cooling/arctic-freezer-36-review says that your cooler is good for 219W.
Depending on your planned use you can end up thermal throttled. I have no idea how your air flow in the case is either, if that’s bad then a good cpu cooler won’t save you.
