i3-14100 BSOD and Prime95 failure

[Leandrum]

I built a brand new system that consists of:

i3-14100

ASRock B660m Pro RS

G.Skill Ripjaws V, Model: F4-3600C16D (2x8 GB DDR4)

Crucial P3 Plus 500 Gig nvme

Corsair CX 550 W ps

I am using onboard video and the stock Intel fan for the CPU.  After building it, it started doing BSOD and restarting a few times a day.  Ran memtest86 and received errors.  RMA'd the memory and when I got the new memory, still got errors.  I took the heatsink/fan off and then took the processor out and put it back in.  Ran memtest86 again and it ran fine.  Still getting BSOD's.  Ran Prime95 and processor got up to about 98° C and received the memory rounding error: fatal error rounding was 0.5 expected less than 0.4. 

The system still gets the BSOD's 2 to 3 times a day.  The system is not overclocked and all that is being performed is surfing the net, checking email, and playing microsoft solitair-type games.  I do know that when I use ASRocks built in from the BIOS Driver Updater program, that will instantly cause the system to BSOD.  It crashes before it even gives a list of drivers to download, the program launches and I tell it to go find drivers and it BSODs.  I have manually downloaded/installed all the drivers from their website and updated the BIOS to the latest they have.

Running HWMonitor in the background and when the system isn't BSODing, the max temp gets to between 65° C and 70° C.  This seems to be a bit high for a system that isn't doing any "work".

I have read that some people have played with increasing the voltage to the CPU but that was usually because they were trying to overclock.  I was wondering if that is something I should try??  

Any ideas?

[ArchieD_Intel]

Hi Leandrum,

Thank you for reaching out to the Intel Community Forum. To assist us in investigating the issue, please provide the following details:

• Are you using the Intel Default settings?
• Is there any physical damage?
• When did you purchased the processor?

Additionally, to gain a comprehensive understanding of your system, please use the System Support Utility (SSU). This tool will generate a text file compiling all your system information. You can follow the instructions at this link and send the text file here. Help Guide for the Intel® System Support Utility.

If you have any questions, please let us know. Thank you.

Best regards,

Archie D.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Leandrum]

Archie,

Sorry for the delay.  Anyway, I have changed no settings for the processor, so after I loaded the latest BIOS 15.03 from ASRock I didn't touch any CPU settings, so whatever comes up default is how it is set up.  I don't see any physical damage (ie bent pins).  Purchased the processor April of 2025.  I am using xmp for the memory to get it to run at its default speed of 3600.  Attached is the SSU64 file that got created.  Thanks for looking at this.

Leandrum

[ArchieD_Intel]

Hi Leandrum,

Thank you for the update. Please let me know if the issue still persists after disabling Intel XMP.

Altering PC memory frequency and/or voltage may reduce system stability and use life of the system, memory, and processor, cause the processor and other system components to fail, cause reductions in system performance.

If you have any questions, please let us know. Thank you.

Best regards,

Archie D.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Leandrum]

Archie,

I can do the stopping of XMP, but then the memory WILL be out of spec because the memory is supposed to run at 3600 Mhz.  I am also doing one more test.  I have the EXACT same build that is not having any BSOD's and no memtest86 errors and put that memory in this system to see if the errors persist.   On the "good" system, the memory is running perfectly fine with XMP.  The motherboard is specced to handle that frequency and that is the default spec of the memory as well.  Will let you know what I find out.

As another update, I ran memtest86 on this system that I am having problems with  and I am getting many failures in memtest86.

[Starlight]

Hi, it could be a Ram issue. Do you have any other brands of Ram you can try. Why I say this is because I built an ultra core i7 system with recommended RAM, Corsair I believe. And I had the same issues. Swapped out for crucial branded RAM and everything was stable.
Try running with 1 stick of RAM with what you have now. See if that’s any more stable. I could Run 1 stick of that Corsair Incompatible RAM in slot four without issue, but as soon as I tried to use both sticks I would get the same issues. Worth a try. 

[ArchieD_Intel]

Hi Leandrum,

Thank you for the feedback.

I understand that the memory is supposed to run on the said frequency. However, this will just be for isolating the issue. Is the system still having the same errors when the XMP is turned off?

Additionally, can you please try using another processor in your system to check if the issue still persists.

If you have any questions, please let us know. Thank you.

Best regards,

Archie D.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Leandrum]

Sorry for delays again, the system is built for someone else so i have to coordinate getting over there to do these things.  I still haven't done all the things, like take off XMP settings and going back to auto. 

I did take the exact same memory out of a different machine that is built with all the exact same components that is running fine, no BSOD, no memory errors, doesn't run warm, doesn't BSOD when the ASRock BIOS auto driver updater runs.  I put that memory into this "bad" system and ran memtest86 and it came up with 0 errors.  Ran it twice (it does 4 passes each time).  But then I also checked the other system that I put this ram into and that system does not get any memory errors.  That other system that had the original memory from the bad system can run the ASRock BIOS auto driver updater perfectly fine.  Both systems are running the memory at intended speeds using XMP at this moment.

So, this current system does not appear to be be getting random BSOD anymore, nor is it getting any memtest86 errors (still using XMP).  The 2 things that I still get are the auto driver updater BSOD EVERY time it runs (again, runs fine on other system), and the CPU runs warm even not under much load. 

This computer surfs the net, occasional email, and Microsoft solitair games and is running onboard video.  Running HWMonitor and looking at the max temp, it is getting up to about 70 deg C after playing simple solitair games (other computer doesn't go above 50 to 53).  I do get the rounding error .5 vice .4 with Prime95 running and the temp only reached 75 Deg C when it was seeing these errors.  I have reseated the CPU 2 times and cleaned off/replaced thermal grease (Noctua NH2 and brand new) 2 times on the heatsink.

I guess the problem could be the motherboard, I have requests in to them with no response yet.

i will try to get the XMP turned off and see if that changes anything in the next couple of days....stay tuned

Leandrum

[ArchieD_Intel]

Hi Leandrum,

Thank you for your update. I've sent an email to your active email address for the next step of the process.

Please check both your Inbox and Spam folder for my email, and once received, kindly acknowledge it.

Best regards,

Archie D.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Leandrum]

Archie,

Sorry it has been so long again.  I don't recall getting that message and my spam isn't showing it.  May have been deleted from inbox or spam.  If so, sorry about  that.

In this saga, the motherboard company reached out and I RMA'd the motherboard.  Just got it back and the system is put back together.  The memory is clocked at  the default 2133 now, not using XMP.  First boot up and tried using the auto driver install feature from the BIOS and I get  the BSOD again. 

I don't really have reasonable access to another processor to try.  I have tried the exact same memory in this system into its duplicate system and it does not BSOD during the auto driver install.  So I am not thinking it is memory.  The memory in this current system with issues came out of the duplicate system where it was running perfectly fine and doesn't on this system.  Again, running at default 2133 motherboard settings and the memory is 3600  Mhz from G.Skill.