I upgraded my system from a B760 motherboard to a Z790 board, and now it crashes constantly. The hardware includes an Intel Core i5-14600K, 32GB of DDR5-6000 memory, 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 5600 MT/s with two modules. I also performed a fresh Windows installation, so old motherboard drivers should not be involved. What else should I check to find the cause of the crashes?
3 Answers
Since the BIOS is already current and Windows was freshly installed, old firmware or motherboard drivers are less likely. It would still be worth loading the BIOS defaults and confirming the CPU is recognized correctly before changing any performance settings.
A fresh Windows installation rules out most leftover drivers from the B760, so focus on basic stability testing: check CPU temperatures, verify that all power cables are fully seated, and test the system at BIOS defaults. If it still crashes with conservative memory settings, test the RAM and motherboard individually.
The memory configuration is still a possible source of instability. Even with XMP disabled, DDR5-5600 can be more demanding than the official Intel memory specifications on some Z790 boards, especially depending on the number and layout of the DIMMs. Try running the RAM at a lower JEDEC speed, such as 4800 or 4400, and test whether the crashes stop. Also run a proper memory test and test each module separately if needed.
XMP is already disabled, and the BIOS reports the memory running at 5600 with two modules. I can try lowering it further to see whether that makes the system stable.