Sudden death of a i7-13700KF

[Oliver_Ger]

Hi,

last week I encountered a really strange problem:

I build my "Home"-Computer a year ago on a Gigabyte Gamin Z790 X AX with a i7-13700-KF, an NVIDIA RTX3800 and everything in a big Be Quite tower housing (850 W Be Quite Gold PSU) with a big tower CPU cooling fan and two housing fans. So, there was never any kind of heat problem and the computer ran very fine until last week.

All of a sudden, the computer shut down while I was working on it. All fans quite, everything immediatelly powered off. After that, the mainboard was not able to init the CPU anymore (there's an LED for it on the mainboard).

So my first thought was a defective mainboard or PSU. I stripped down the system as much as possible and tested with a different mainboard (I ordered the same mainboard again) and another PSU. Same thing. Then I tested the CPU in a different computer which was known to work. Does not init the CPU. I tested the CPU from the working computer in the two Gigabyte mainboards and it worked without a problem.

So, the CPU has suddenly died. Never overclocked, not used too much (1-2 hours in the evening).

I'm building PC system for more than 30 years, but I never got a defective CPU.

Now the question: Is it possible, that the original mainboard was the root cause for the problem? I couldn't see any damage on the board or on the CPU so I wonder how this happened. It's clear that nothing is perfect but I've seen many defective mainboards but never a failing CPU.

What do you think? Should I better throw away the original mainboard?

Thanks and bye,

Oliver

[n_scott_pearson]

Gee, I have seen lots of defective processors, but this may have been because I worked at Intel and used Engineering and Pre-Production samples a lot. Never happened with a Production processor at home, however. Still, it does happen - but it's unusual that it took a year before it happened.

You've tested another processor in the original motherboard - and it worked - so it sounds like it is tentatively ok. If the decision is based upon return window for second motherboard, I would say go ahead and do the return. If the replacement processor fails, you will have fairly strong evidence that the motherboard has somehow played a role in this failure and I would replace the motherboard at the same time as that processor.

It is not necessary to respond with an answer (just ammunition for later), but I wonder if the version of the BIOS on the original board plays a role. Is the newer board outfitted with a newer version of the BIOS? If so, upgrade the original board as well.

Hope this helps,

...S

[Jocelyn_Intel]

Hello, @Oliver_Ger  

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.  

If I may jump into the conversation, what is the model of the processor that you tested (that worked with both motherboards)? 

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 

[Oliver_Ger]

Hi,

the test processor was a i7-12700K (from my PC at work).

Today the replacement CPU, a brand new i7-14700K arrived and it run out of the box on the new Gigabyte mainboard (you can flash these boards even without a CPU to the newest BIOS).

I know, the 13700KF has no GPU, but I made my tests with and without a graphics card, no chance to get it running.

I will return it to the dealer and sell it when I got it back.

Bye,

Oliver

[Jocelyn_Intel]

Hello, @Oliver_Ger  

Thank you for your reply and the information provided. 

I understand that you will contact your Seller for a replacement, but either way, I would like to recommend you contact your local Intel Customer Support for help with an RMA process in case you purchased the processor more than 30 days ago: 

U.S. and Canada: Intel Customer Support 

Europe, Middle East, and Africa: Intel Customer Support EMEA  

Asia-Pacific: Intel Customer Support APAC  

Latin America: Intel Customer Support LAR  

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 

[Jocelyn_Intel]

Hello, @Oliver_Ger    

As we have not heard back from you, we will proceed to close this thread now. 

If you need assistance with other matters, please feel free to contact us back and submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored.  

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician.