ROG STRIX Z790-F GAMING WIFI with Intel 14900K Issues

[CraigDubya]

Hi, this is the first time I've encountered issues like this and have never had to come here for help so please bear with me.

Since November last year I have been running the following system:

• ASUS ROG Strix Z790-F Gaming WiFi Motherboard
• Intel Core i9 14900K CPU
• Kingston FURY Beast RGB 64GB (2 x 32GB) 6000MHz
• ASUS RTX4090 TUF OC
• Samsung 970 EVO Plus M2 SSD 1TB
• Samsung 980 PRO M2 SSD 1TB
• Samsung 980 PRO M2 SSD 2TB
• Corsair iCUE H100i Elite Capellix XT 240mm AIO Liquid CPU Cooler
• Corsair RMx Shift Series 1200W Modular PSU

The system was built for me by Chillblast without the RTX4090 and 2 of the SSDs (I added those when it arrived). It came without an operating system so I installed Windows 10 myself. I don't remember any issues during this intial setup - I believe the motherboard BIOS version was 1501 on delivery.

About 4 or 5 weeks ago I did a BIOS update to version 1801 I believe and have been seeing issues ever since. I have tried rolling back to 1501 (as well as trying the latest 2 versions 1904 and 2002) but still seeing problems.

I noticed that the difference that can't be rolled back between the BIOS versions is the ME version has gone from 16.1.30.2264 to 16.1.30.2307. Could this latest ME version be causing me issues?

So, how do the issues manifest? - Well, after a clean install of Windows (which I may need help with to ensure I am doing it right - do I install windows offline and sort out motherboard drivers first before allowing Windows to grab updates and stuff), I am seeing a lot of errors and warnings about LSA, CSM, network dropouts, permissions issues etc in the Windows Event Viewer. Reading about the Event Viewer lots of this warnings and errors may be normal, but just some of the things I have noticed there.

My test is to download NVidia GeForce Experience and try to install this, it always fails with a 7zip error, this kind of uncompressing activity fails on some other software too and in the event viewer it has various Windows module reasons, KernelBase.dll is one that I can remember off-hand. (I've tried DISM RestoreHealth and sfc /scannow multiple times).

I have set the BIOS to Default Settings with the same result.

At present (after 3 or more weeks of trying different things) I am still unsure if I am getting the right drivers installed for my motherboard at the right time.

If I go to ASUS Support SIte and look at the drivers for my motherboard they are listed in a collapsed tree:

• LAN
• Wireless
• Chipset
• Audio
• VGA Drivers
• Bluetooth
• Thunderbolt
• Software & Utility
• SATA
• Utilities

Do I grab the top-most driver from each section and install those? Or do I need to uncollapse any of the tree and grab anything else? I'm suspecting Chipset drivers, because after I install only the top-most driver there are still lots of PCI somethings in the Device Manager tree that have no drivers.

So I guess what I am asking after all this is how to properly install the drivers for my PC? Should I install Windows offline, then install the ASUS drivers before I even attempt to go online and let Windows do its thing?

Any help to get me on the right track before I call in my PC builder to have a look would be much appreciated.

[CraigDubya]

Update - I just spent 4 hours with a Microsoft tech doing remote assistance which included another fresh install of Windows but the issues still persist. They have elevated me to Tier 2 support so am awaiting a phone call to resume testing with them.

[inge70]

What problems do you have with the mainboard and your CPU exactly?
Not much is clear from your text, other than the reference to the event log entries.
The errors and warnings in the event log are not the same as hardware errors.
LSA: is generated by Windows Defender when one or more settings are not active (I have it too and ignore it)
CSM: could have something to do with your bios settings. Windows should be installed in UEFI mode. To do this, deactivate CSM in the BIOS/UEFI and switch the boot to UEFI.
network dropouts: may be related to the driver for the network card. Take the latest version but at least version 2.1.3.3, as Intel has fixed various errors here.
Basically, the drivers for chipsets etc. should be installed in order to be able to use the full performance of the hardware. You shouldn't necessarily rely on Windows updates here.

In addition, DCOM warnings or errors will also be listed in the event log, but you should ignore them as they cannot be corrected. These entries have been around for years.

So if you don't have any problems on your PC other than these entries in the event log, you can ignore these warnings/errors.

Regarding your 7zip problem, this problem has nothing to do with your hardware, but rather with the Windows unzipper. Use either Winrar or the 7zip unpacker itself.

PS:
The fact that downgrading the UEFI/BIOS to an older version "can" be due to the current version of the Intel ME, but it doesn't have to be. When downgrading, you should rename the bios file with the renamer before doing this. You can also try using the BIOS flashback connection on the mainboard if you want.
There should also be something about this in the UEFI/BIOS manual.

I use the same motherboard and am on UEFI 2002. Have had NO problems with it so far.

[CraigDubya]

Hi, thanks for your reply.

I realise I haven't been very descriptive about the issues I have been facing. My tests have been to download and install NVidia GeForce Experience and Google Chrome. They both fail during the extraction process with NVidia reporting a CRC error, also some Windows updates are failing.

I have just reflashed the BIOS to 2002, and in there I turned off MCE and have just tried again and both GeForce Experience and Google Chrome now install fine. 

So, how does the MCE being off affect me? Will I see performance drops? Can I leave it off?

Thanks again for taking the time to reply 🙂

[CraigDubya]

Actually scrap that, just tried again and they failed. It's as if some windows process is starting up in the background that is causing the issue. All these files install fine within Windows safe mode.

[Trackah123]

I would suggest trying a clean boot of Windows normal mode. Because even with a fresh install of Windows, as soon as you install drivers and 3rd party software again after that, it autostarts all those services and processes in the background with Booting Windows that might interfere with the installation problems you been having.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows-da2f9573-6eec-00ad-...

[CraigDubya]

Hi, thanks for your suggestion.

I tried a clean boot and the issue still persists.

[Trackah123]

I been reading everything again and you could try a few things, i use "IOBit Driver Booster" myself to update unknown drivers, its a fairly good program, others also recommend "Snappy Driver Installer", if you don't feel like updating and searching everything manually.

When you mention errors like KernelBase.dll etc? do you see exception codes or faulting module names in Windows Log Event Viewer? they might be useful in tracing the problem.

Another thing i would recommend is to do a RAM-Test, see if you don't have corrupted RAM sticks. But that depends if the errors you are getting are completely random without any logic to it, or there is a pattern to it? Some BIOS these days have their own memtest built in, or you can use the default windows ramtester located in windows tools, or use 3rd party apps like memtest86.

[CraigDubya]

Hi, thanks for your reply, I have looked into this extensively and it is not RAM or driver related, I have DriverEasy which does a good job of finding and installing the drivers (except the network driver, the latest intel driver for the I226 causes mine to stop working).

[Furious_Rage · Accepted solution]

I'd like you to try something for me. Go into the bios settings and set a fixed ratio limit on your CPU's performance cores to a value of 40. I don't have the same motherboard as you but I believe you will find the  setting under: Ai Tweaker / Performance Core Ratio (or maybe called "Specific Performance Core". You will have 8 entries called "Performance Core0 Specific Ratio Limit", "Performance Core1 Specific Ratio Limit", "Performance Core2 Specific Ratio Limit" and so on. Set the value of each of these to 40. Leave the voltage values on auto.

Once done, log back into Windows and redownload the NVidia GeForce Experience software/driver and see if it will install. Don't try to install from a previously downloaded copy. Report back and let me know if that got past the 7zip error.