Regarding Reports of 13th/14th Gen Unlocked Desktop Users Experiencing Stability Issues

[Thomas_Hannaford]

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.

If you are experiencing these issues, please reach out to Intel Customer Support for further assistance in the interim.

[jdunc]

i7 13700k 4070ti 32gb ddr5 5600

[Dread]

This information just showed up in wccftech.com:

Tester Reveals Only 5 out of 10 Core i9-13900K & 2 out of 10 Core i9-14900K CPUs Stable In Auto Profile, Intel & Board Partners Yet To Determine Cause of Stability Issues (wccftech.com)

TLDR: Apparently, these are the results of testing multiple CPUs of those series:

The tester is the owner of a studio that buys several CPUs for their own needs. In invoices shared by the tester, it is revealed that he has bought and tested at least 100s of Intel Core i9-13900K and Core i9-14900K CPUs and it looks like almost all of the chips he acquired had some sort of issue in terms of stability. Motherboards used by the studio include ASUS's Z790, B760, Z690 and B660 boards.

The software he runs requires each CPU and PC to pass through a certain variety of tests and at the Auto profile set in the ASUS motherboards, the majority of CPUs fail this test and have to be resold. Based on these tests, the tester determined a probability rate respective to the CPU's stability & it is shared below:

• Intel Core i9-13900K "AUTO -253W" - 40/50% (4/5 out of 10 units stable)
• Intel Core i9-13900K "Reduced Loadline" - 50-60% (5/6 out of 10 units stable)
• Intel Core i9-13900K "B760/B660 Board" - 60-70% (6/7 out of 10 units stable)
• Intel Core i9-14900K "AUTO - 253W" - 20% (2 out of 10 units stable)
• Intel Core i9-14900K "Reduced Loadline" - ~30% (3 out of 10 units stable)
• Intel Core i9-14900K "B760/B660 Board" - 40% (4 out of 10 units stable)

If these results are true, then basically half of us have defective CPUs, which can lead to unstability in different scenarios. All good.

[pressed_for_time]

The person referred to runs a batch of what are described as productivity benchmark tests for 7 days non-stop including "matlab, R, finite element, VC, VS, large office batch processing". In the event of a failure he classifies the issue as down to the CPU. This is because "...it will be very time-consuming (to analyze or correct failures). So every time I encountered a test that couldn't be tested, I directly resold it".

He's not saying these CPUs are defective only that they don't pass his testing and the reason is not investigated. As CPUs are resold there are no reservations about selling them to other people.

Some of these CPUs are boxed, others are described as loose probably Tray or OEM units, some are used.

He also says that "...Therefore, I personally think that if you want to close your eyes and use it safely, the recommended 13700K is the most stable. 14700K because the cost performance is not as good as 13900K, so I have not touched 14700K, and I don't evaluate 14700K". His personal computer is a 14900K+Z  (Z790 motherboard) version.

As failures to complete the 7 day stress testing are not looked into, to me it is difficult to come to any conclusions Some factors that could explain the issues he is seeing and are not directly CPU related include ambient temperatures and PSU quality and/or capacity. There is no information on these. But what is clear that he is quite happy to use an Intel CPU himself.

He was asked about the AMD 7950X and this is his reply "...The 7950X only has advantages in specific calculations. It is indeed lagging behind Intel in other aspects, especially data processing. But the 7950X is not all smooth sailing, it is just relatively calm. So far, I have repaired and replaced several 7950Xs in the past two years."

[RiftWalker]

I have AMD Radeon RX 6950XT and i9-14900KF
 Valorant stability is very bad and other games the stability isnt as good as my previous build

[Bill721]

I think ASUS and Intel should give all owners of the products affected a warranty for 10 years. 

We bought and paid a lot of money for the latest and greatest components at the time.  I've used Intel and ASUS for every computer I've built and I shouldn't have to worry about quality and performance.

Bill

[ChromeJunkie]

Just reporting that I still haven't received my refund for the defective unit.  Intel's customer service, suboptimal. They keep stalling and not delivering. 

What's really going on, man?

[carlks]

Same here. They already have the cpu for two weeks but i was told their team is still “validating” the product.

[ChromeJunkie]

We’re on the same boat, Carlks, so keep me updated if you can.

In my case, the chip was delivered to them on May 23rd and they’re still validating…

Customer service either doesn’t contact me or they keep stalling and mind you, they’re being defensive about it.

[carlks]

Got my check today via Fedex for the full amount but minus tax.

[ChromeJunkie]

Thanks for the update, carlks and glad you finally received it.

I got the refund just today, thankfully.  So, in the end, they delivered and somewhat kept my faith in Intel.

Stay safe.

[Norman_Trashboat]

At least they're humoring you and not denying it outright because you had the audacity to remove the IHS and try to cool the CPU properly. It's somehow "Physically Damaged" now.

Even though my CPU still "works" albiet not to the specifications you said it would operate at... Even under the MOST ideal conditions...

I'll be your "unofficial" Intel representative with your "unofficial" response:

Pound sand lol. We got your money now kthx.

[Frye91]

Hi, I am an owner of an i7-14700k model, victim of crashes on Hogwarts legacy. Latest bios 2402 with recommended settings. I noticed that the SP score that is assigned has lowered on the E-core. From 78 to 69. Is it a symptom of CPU degradation?


Ciao, sono un possessore di un esemplare i7-14700k, vittima di crash su Hogwarts legacy. Ultimo bios 2402 con impostazioni consigliate. Ho notato che il punteggio SP che viene assegnato si è abbassato sui E-core. Da 78 a 69. È un sintomo di degrado della Cpu?

[Frye91]

Hi, I am an owner of an i7-14700k model, victim of crashes on Hogwarts legacy. Latest bios 2402 with recommended settings. I noticed that the SP score that is assigned has lowered on the E-core. From 78 to 69. Is it a symptom of CPU degradation?

[SlaytheJay]

I also have had a lot of crashes in hogwarts legacy. I just chalked it up to the game being garbage. Perhaps it’s because my cpu is unstable? 14900k I did trouble shoot make sure that everything was stock and my ram kit stable, even went to another kit even though my 7200cl34 2x16gb was karhu 32000% stable and multiple hours of Linpack stable, 0 errors.
Should I rma ? I know my silicon is hot garbage 95SP overall and seems to be unstable in games at stock settings, I play 4k ultra so cpu isn’t hit hard.

[Rp00]

the recent problems apply only to 13th and 14th gen, desktop CPUs, or are they also happening to laptop 13th and 14th gen CPUs?

[SlaytheJay]

I’m having crashes on my 14900k at bone stock settings in borderlands 3. I’ve got my chip set at pl1 225w, pl2 150w and 288A ICCMax. So I’m definitely not utilizing the full power envelope. I don’t really play many UE5 games the one I tried I had the out of video memory error so I have not tried it again. Borderlands 3 is a UE4 game and I wasn’t aware there were stability issues with UE4 games. My ram is stable at 7200 cl34 with hours of Linpack and karhu ram test.

[CoolBook]

Restrict the peak frequency a bit.

[SlaytheJay]

It’s currently set 5.7 all core and 6 for core 4/5 , what you recommend limiting it too

[Thrasherop]

5.5 on p cores worked for me

[MikeFreeze]

My i7-14700k has had issues since installation. Ever since my first benchmarks I noticed it was underperforming and it’s only gotten worse with instability issues and crashes, particularly under little load with just background tasks running like discord or edge. I purposely didn’t get the i9 because of the reported issues with those but apparently Intel should have done an Internal investigation much sooner and notified the public that the problem could have affected ALL chips. That would have saved me my $400 and saved Intel from potentially having to recall thousands if not millions of chips currently on the market/in users systems.

[CoolBook]

What CPU cooler are you using?

What are your temps?

Do you run XMP?