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.

[Furious_Rage]

Good finds there. Setting the “SVID behavior” to “Intel fail safe" didn't help with my 14900K, it did stabilize my 13900K but the temps were astronomical. I suspect the 13900K would have continued to degrade and eventually destabilized even at "Intel fail safe" setting. I only ran it for a week at that setting before RMAing the CPU.

[inge70]

I have a 13700K and no problems like that either.

It seems to mainly affect the 13900K and 14900K.

Very annoying but Intel screwed up a lot.

[Trackah123]

About your error with NVidia GeForce Experience and the unpacking?
Why do you have to unpack this? It's an .exe file after all. Nothing is unpacked.

---

Geforce Experience Installer (or it's own internal updater) uses 7Zip as it's own extractor. If you download the latest installer, open it with Winrar or 7Zip, and you will see it uses 7z.exe and 7z.dll. I remember i used to have issues with 7zip on one of the very early Geforce Experience releases. I just thought i clear this little part up.

[inge70]

But this is ALWAYS included because the .exe files can unpack and install everything.
But you shouldn't do that yourself. The attempt then results in an error.

Simply click on the file “Geforce_Experience_v3.27.0.120.exe”.
However, Winrar or another packaging program must not open.
If this happens, you have set your packaging program incorrectly so that it also opens .exe files.

But that is not intended.
So the zip error you keep getting is your fault.

The file Geforce_Experience_v3.27.0.120.exe is designed so that with one click it opens the installer and you then only have to follow the instructions in the next window.

If an error message appears here, it would be interesting to know WHAT it says.

What happens if you double-click on the Geforce_Experience_v3.27.0.120.exe with the left mouse button?

does the installation begin or do you just see the contents of the .exe?

PS:
But this has NOTHING to do with the BIOS and the settings there.

[Furious_Rage]

@inge70 I think you might be misinterpreting the problem or actions taken. @CraigDubya is indeed only opening the exe by double clicking it, this was resulting in a 7zip error because Nvidia has compressed and packaged the exe as a self extracting installer using 7zip. The error is being produced because the file is corrupt and the internal extractor (7zip) can't cope with the corrupted files.

[CraigDubya]

Just to be clear, the zip error I am seeing is NOT my fault, it's a consequence of the degraded CPU, how else would the exact same file install fine with the per core performance ratio set to 40 on all cores?

Can I ask though, since someone mentioned temperatures earlier, what would be a sensible temperature that a good 14900k would exhibit under load? I would like to monitor the temps when the new one turns up to satisfy myself that I haven't received another bad CPU.

[Furious_Rage]

I'm not currently at home to confirm what temp I am seeing under a normal load such as with a game running but idling in Windows you can expect to be around 54C with decent cooling. If you were stressing the CPU with something like video transcoding or some type of burn in test that will max out all cores then you can expect the CPU to reach 88C which is where the CPU's thermal protection/limit kicks in and won't allow the CPU to go any higher.

[CraigDubya]

I've just got home from work and decided to check my motherboard P1 and P2 settings. They were set to Auto with P1 reporting it could theoretically allow 4095W!!!

I've set those both to 256W for now, does this sound reasonable?

[Furious_Rage]

My auto settings are limiting it to 253W which is what Intel rates the 14900K at.

Quoting Intel's description on Max Turbo Power for reference:

The maximum sustained (>1s) power dissipation of the processor as limited by current and/or temperature controls. Instantaneous power may exceed Maximum Turbo Power for short durations (<=10ms). Note: Maximum Turbo Power is configurable by system vendor and can be system specific.

My recommendation would be to set both P1 and P2 to 253W since your auto setting is using crazy values.

[inge70]

I set the "Asus Multicore Enhancement" to "Disabled - Enforce all Limits" in the UEFI/Bios and there in the Ai-Tweaker.

This sets PL1 and PL2 to 253 watts, as Intel specifies.
The rest remained on “Auto”