Another i9-14900K user experiencing problems

[Domestic-Cat]

Hi,
I very recently bought a new high-end pc and, having very good past experience with my old intel processors, I mounted an i9-14900k without fear or qualms.
Needless to say, after a short time I experienced various application crashes, especially with games based on Unreal Engine 5 that are virtually unbootable.
I only found out later then about the various infamous issues associated with these very expensive processors. Great!

I downloaded Intel Extreme Tuning Utility, disabled the "watchdog" service, something like that, from the BIOS to allow XTU to run.
In fact, by downclocking the CPU on the "Performance Cores" by 2-3x, at least the crashes disappear.
BUT, when I turn off the pc after applying the downclock, I basically get a reboot instead and if I open Intel XTU, I find that the system warns me that it has reset the CPU values to default values following an instability crash. This bizarre behavior is random with a 50% probability each time the pc is turned off (after the tuning has been applied).

Now, I wanted to seek support and official advice from you at Intel. What can I do to solve the problem?
Clearly, downclocking the CPU is a workaround, and I honestly hate to sacrifice some of the performance that the processor could offer.
Should I replace the processor before the warranty expires? Should I completely change model?
I would like to understand, for example, is this problem encountered by every single i9-14900k out there or have I been unlucky and got one of the "cursed" ones ?

Is there any caution I can follow?

Thank you very much for your attention and I hope I have not annoyed anyone.

Attaching below the logs from SSU

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Domestic-cat,

Thank you for posting in Intel Communities.

You certainly did not annoy us. We are actually glad that you brought your issue to our attention.

Intel is aware of reports regarding Intel Core 13th and 14th Gen unlocked desktop processors experiencing issues with certain workloads. We’re engaged with our partners and are conducting analysis of the reported issues. Intel has performed analysis on affected processors and specific system settings and replicated the reported symptoms. Intel has observed that this issue may be related to out of specification operating conditions resulting in sustained high voltage and frequency during periods of elevated heat.

In order to address this scenario while the investigation continues, Intel has recommended to system and motherboard manufacturers a set of ‘Intel Default Settings’ to be released around the end of May, 2024 for 13th and 14th Generation K Sku processors. Intel recommends using these settings. For your board, they have released a BIOS update with the settings mentioned version F12d. Please confirm this with Gigabyte and update to this version, then load “Intel Default Settings”.

You may refer to this page for updates regarding the issue that you are experiencing.

Let us know if the recommendations above resolved the issue that you are experiencing.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel® Customer Support Technician

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Domestic-cat,

We are just following up.

It looks like you need more time to assess the answers that we have provided.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Domestic-Cat]

Hi AlfredoS_Intel,

sorry for the late reply and thank you very much for your advice and help.
I actually updated the BIOS, and was still taking some time to test the changes well.

First of all I would like to point out that the BIOS drivers are not the ones reported by you ( not your fault, even before reading your comment, I had found the same ones too! ).
I am writing this because maybe it can help someone with the same problem since untangling this info is rather confusing: there are several "rev" of the same motherboard, in this case a "GIGABYTE Z790 AORUS ELITE AX", the drivers passed by you are for "rev 1.0". And they have names like F12, F11.

Instead the correct ones ( in my case ) are for "rev.1.x" and can be found here:
https://www.aorus.com/motherboards/Z790-AORUS-ELITE-AX-rev-1x/Support

And they have names like FJd, FE, FC.

Since it is practically impossible to discern what rev. your motherboard is, the only way I found is to check the name of the current BIOS update.

At this point I would add that for the bios update you need to put the downloaded files inside the root of a FAT32 formatted USB stick. Unfortunately, Windows does not natively give the ability to format some USB drives in FAT32 and so you need to use third-party software to accomplish this. For example, I have used "GUIFORMAT"
http://ridgecrop.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm

But now back to us:

After installing the new BIOS drivers, I find sharp improvements:

Applications that used to crash no longer crash. Games based on Unreal Engine 5, no longer crash. The pc shuts down normally and no longer randomly reboots.
Great!

I'm still testing system stability but everything seems to be fine.

The only alarming aspect is that now the temperatures of some CPU cores reach very high levels of heat that were not even touched before.
It is practically common to record temperatures of 100 °C on some cores.

Personally, I have never seen such high temperatures on other processors I have had. I don't think it's healthy to get up to 100 °C

However, again, I am still in the testing phase. I still don't quite understand if these very high temperatures are only touched for very brief seconds during some short load spikes or if they are instead maintained for considerable time intervals.

Before the BIOS update, the maximum recorded was 80° C on some cores for brief peak moments.
I specify that I have a liquid dissipator that should be of a good standard.

This is it. I apologize for any verbiage, but I have written all this in the hope that maybe it will help someone with the same problems.

Please feel free to let me know what your opinion is on this.

Thank you again very much for your time and attention.

Sincerely,
Domestic-cat

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Domestic-cat,

We appreciate the time that you took out of your busy schedule to report the results of our recommendation to update the BIOS and load defaults.

We are grateful that you corrected the BIOS update link that is meant for your motherboard. We derived our recommendations to you from the logs that you shared and although there are different revisions, most of the time they may be similar. Much obliged though for pointing that out. I am sure that other users who stumbled on this site would find this very helpful.

We are glad to hear that you found sharp improvements after loading the latest update with Intel Defaults.  We know that getting 100 degrees Celsius on some cores can be alarming. We would like to ask if you get these temperatures when your doing stress tests or benchmarks. If you are getting this only on stress tests, then it is normal.

Additionally, may we ask what is your usual idle temperature?

Lastly, the BIOS update came with an option to disable CEP which can raise temperatures. The Intel defaults should have this enabled, but to confirm, kindly go into your system’s BIOS and look for IA CEP. Ensure that it is enabled.

We will wait for your update regarding our suggestions.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Domestic-Cat]

Hi AlfredoS_Intel,

I apologize again for the delay in response.

No, these temperatures (i.e. 100 °C spikes on some cores) are reached very easily during "normal" pc usage. For example, during gaming sessions.

Idle temperature of all cores is a nice 32-35 °C

I found the IA CEP entry among the BIOS settings: it is set to "auto" for the intel defaults profile but strangely it indicates that by Auto it means off.

I attach a picture with a small overview of the BIOS settings

 
Can you confirm that so I need to try to force enable on that setting?

Thank you very much for your attention.

Sincerely,
Domestic-cat

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Domestic-cat,

No apologies needed. We know that can you be preoccupied.

If you can change the setting to Enable from Auto, then try that one.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Domestic-Cat]

Hello AlfredoS_Intel,

I wanted to inform you that with the IA CEP option on Enable, the temperatures are even higher for me.
I have not conducted overly extensive testing but comparing frequent usage scenarios the impression I get is just that.

If you tell me that this is not possible, then maybe it was an unfortunate coincidence ( although I repeat, I observed the temperatures frequently anyway ) and I will conduct more tests. However at the moment in order to reduce those alarming "100" being reached on too many cores, I set IA CEP back to "Auto".

I am attaching a reading of the minimum/maximum temperatures following a game session with "IA CEP Auto."

Later, with some patience, I will try to provide the same reading by reproducing as much as possible the same game session with the IA CEP setting set to Enable.

I'm aware that - if I wanted to do it right - I could just replay the same benchmark over and over again to make the the comparison as objective as possible.

I always thank you very much for your help and attention.

Sincerely,
Domestic-cat

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Domestic-cat,

We are grateful for your response and the thorough testing that you have provided.

Based on the temperature readings that you shared, it seems that setting IA cep setting to auto is better, which is rather odd. When I checked the readings though, it seems the temperature that you are getting although higher is normal and there is nothing to worry about.

It would be best if you also ask for suggestions from Gigabyte to see if there is another BIOS setting that you can alter that will result to reducing the temperature.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician

[CoolBook]

@AlfredoS_Intel  and @Domestic-Cat 

I think CEP was designed to increase the voltage? The CPU would get hotter by design in that case.

Intel recommendations regarding temperatures:

Power Consumption and Heat

Monitoring power consumption and heat are critical parts of the overclocking process. At this stage, your cooling solution will play a large part in whether you achieve a successful overclock.

Be aware of the upper temperature limit of your CPU, as well. To find out the maximum allowable temperature of your CPU, go to this page and find your CPU’s “Tjunction.” In the example below, you’ll see a temperature limit of 100°C. You don’t want your CPU at or even near this temperature when under load. Around or under 80°C is ideal for most CPUs during normal operation, so be sure the results of your overclock reflect that.

Apparently Intel now believes that constantly running the RPL at 100°C, even with high boost voltages, is a safe thing to do.
That might have been a miscalculation considering the reports about increasing number of defective CPUs.

I'm just putting this information out here if someone wants to play it safe  

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Domestic-cat,

We are just following up.

It looks like you need more time to check with your system manufacturer since we have not heard from you. 

Should we not hear from you, our system may automatically close the thread.

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician

[AlfredoS_Intel]

Hi Domestic-cat, 

We need to close this thread since we have not gotten a response from you: maybe because you are busy or preoccupied at the moment. We know that this is important for you to get it resolved and it is also equally important for us to give you the right solution; as much as we would like to assist you, we need to close it to attend to other customers. 

We hope for your consideration and understanding on this one.

If you need any additional information, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer being monitored.

Thank you for contacting Intel® and have a great week!

Best Regards,

Alfred S

Intel Customer Support Technician