I upgraded my system from a B760 motherboard to a Z790 board, and it has started crashing constantly. The build uses an Intel Core i5-14600K, 32GB of DDR5 memory rated at 6000MHz, an AGT1000 power supply, and an RTX 4070 Ti Super OC Eagle. The CPU is currently air-cooled, although I also have an AIO cooler that I was planning to return. The BIOS is already updated to the newest version, XMP is disabled, and the memory is running at 5600MHz with two modules. I also performed a fresh Windows installation after changing motherboards. What else should I check?
3 Answers
Since the BIOS is already current, the next thing to test is memory stability. Even with two DIMMs and XMP disabled, manually set the RAM to a conservative speed such as the motherboard's default JEDEC setting, then run a memory test. If the crashes stop, the 5600MHz setting may not be stable with this particular CPU and board combination.
A fresh Windows installation rules out most leftover motherboard drivers, but install the current Z790 chipset and LAN drivers directly from the motherboard manufacturer's support page. Check Windows Event Viewer or the crash stop code as well; whether it reports memory management, WHEA hardware errors, or display-driver failures can point to different causes.
Make sure the RAM sticks are installed in the recommended slots, usually A2 and B2, and test with one module at a time. Also load the BIOS defaults and temporarily disable any motherboard auto-overclocking or enhanced turbo settings. The 14600K can become unstable if the board is applying aggressive automatic voltage or power settings.
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