"Oh wait, it's really an 8 core when it comes to performance [cores]". So yes, should not be an 8 core all together, but like you said about 14 cores, or 12 with the 3D cache.
"And I doubt those cores have a higher clock."
I'm not sure what we're comparing them to. They should be capable of higher clock than the E cores. I thought all the AMD cores had the ability to hit the max frequency (but not necessarily at the same time). And some of the cores might not be able to take advantage of the 3D cache, but that doesn't limit their frequency, from my understanding.