New Z790 1501 Beta BIOS not good enough - still have memory issues.

[Brahmzy]

I hope there will be further improvements to the latest 1501 beta BIOS before it goes into the next general release version.

I’ve had to RMA/refund a STRIX Z790-H due to major crashes with approved QVL RAM (F5-7200J3445G16GX2-TZ5RK). In a last ditch effort I flashed from 1402 to 1501 beta and no change. I tried a different pair of QVL sticks - no change. I tried all sorts of settings for XMP I, XMP II, XMP Tweaked to AUTO - no change. Reseated 14600KF and memory obviously - no change. Still freezes immediately on Prime95 and failed memtest86 in the same spots. No CPU overclocks.

I have a replacement coming tomorrow - a STRIX Z790-F.

I already have another Z790-F / 14900KF and am seeing some instability on it as well in certain games, with approved QVL RAM (F5-7200J3445G16GX2-TZ5RK) at all memory speeds including AUTO. No CPU overclocks. Tried different memory on it as well.

This is pretty frustrating as I’ve spent many thousands refreshing 2 separate machines.

What is with ASUS lately on this instability stuff? 

Is there something funky about running new 14th gen KF CPUs on the older non “II” Z790 boards?

Tearing my hair out here.

UPDATE: BAD CPU! After replacing everything in the system multiple times, I finally exchanged the 14600KF for another one and it fixed all my issues. NOT a BIOS problem and NOT a seating/mounting issue.

[Silent_Scone]

Experiencing crashes without XMP and the BIOS at optimised defaults indicates a different issue, potentially with improper  CPU pinpad contact.

Try reseating the CPU and cooler. Inspect the CPU pinpad then remount the cooler whilst ensuring for even mounting pressure.

[Brahmzy]

^^ Caedesque, exactly what I’m experiencing. I think there’s a big issue with using 14th gen with the 2022 boards. This is not good at all.

^^ Silent_Scone, I ended up reseating not only the CPU and memory both about 4 times on my 790-H but also a brand new, different Z790-F altogether with that same combo - no change. Insta crash at any memory speed using any memory. It’s not a mounting issue.

We’ve got a major compatibility issue going on and BIOS 1501 doesn’t do skwat to fix it.

I’m running out of my return windows too.

Do I need to run the brand new “II” boards to be able to use my 14900KF and 14600KF CPUs?

Do I seriously need to refund/replace with $80 more expensive boards just to get what I was told would work?

What is crazy is if I ended up having to refund to the new 2023 boards, they don’t have any of my QVL G.skill memory pairs listed! Meaning, I might be stuck with high-dollar memory I can’t use on the newer board. WTH ASUS.

[Silent_Scone]

Try new beta 1601 below:

Re: RaptorLake Resources - Page 16 - Republic of Gamers Forum - 907811 (asus.com)

Although your case sounds like there's something else going on entirely, hard to say at this moment. 

[Caedesque]

@silensThanks for the info. Sent my PC for full diagnostics and if it's CPU issue the warranty will cover it.
We also discussed that they can replace it with 13900k if it's 14th gen issue.

[Brahmzy · Accepted solution]

Well, I got the new 14600KF replacement in from Amazon a few hours ago.  Swapped it out and... voila!!!!!

No more freezing immediately running Prime and no memtest86 failures/freezing!  It was absolutely a bad CPU out of the box. 

Wow. What a relief. Nothing to show any damage or anything - the thing must've been reseated about 6 times on 2 different motherboards with zero difference between the reseats.  This new one is acting perfectly.  I guess 1501 might be a good BIOS afterall.

I ordered a new Z790-F Gaming WIFI II 2023 board just in case... I guess I better return that, lol.

I'd still like to figure out why a certain game keeps crashing on my other Z790-F board running my 14900KF.  That system passes memtest86, no issues in Prime, but it crashes this older game - that never happened on my old 9900K system running Win11.  It's not a Win11 problem, it's a new intel system problem.

[Silent_Scone]

Hi,

I did think as much. Glad you got it resolved.

[darkiria]

Thank you for informing me that I don’t need to refresh the 1501 BIOS again, but would like to ask for advice on trying the new 1601 bios? I just checked the z790 apex file version and it shows 0005?

[caqo1971]

Don't know why ASUS released Z790 series (except APEX), with 4 memory slots, if it doesn't work, or even not boot when you install 4 memory modules. I'm feed up with that. Going to sell the extra Corsair Vengeance pro DDR5 6000Mhz extra kit.

[Daytrader]

Can i update to 1501 bios even thou i dont have a 14th gen cpu, i have a 13900K ? thx

[JimmyH]

I must have misread the QVL, Corsair 6400MHz 4 x 16GB is on their, but Corsair 6200MHz is not.