I've been hitting a lot of Blue Screens of Death lately, to the point where my PC won't even start anymore. I've noticed my CPU temps are spiking pretty high, around 80 to 90 degrees Celsius. At first, I didn't think anything of it since I play games on ultra settings at 3440x1440, but with all the crashes, I decided to troubleshoot more. I recently sent my CPU (i9-14900KF) back for an RMA, but now I'm wondering if the problem is actually my PSU instead. I'm new to building PCs, as this was my first build just six months ago, so I'm not super confident in diagnosing issues. Here are my specs: CPU: i9-14900KF, GPU: RTX 4090, PSU: Gold standard 1000W, RAM: 96 GB DDR5, Motherboard: Z790-E.
2 Answers
There was a big problem with Intel CPUs, particularly the 14900Ks, degrading due to high voltage. A fix was supposed to be rolled out around August to September last year, so it’s possible your motherboard might not be running that updated BIOS. Also, just saying your PSU is 'Gold standard' doesn't explain much. What’s the actual model? It could be a factor in those BSODs, too.
Your CPU is known to have some BSOD issues, so you're not alone here! It's definitely worth investigating further, especially since you've noticed those high temperatures. Start by checking the Event Viewer after crashes for clues, but keep in mind some entries pop up only after a restart, so not everything there will be relevant. I recommend looking at your cooling setup; you might need to replace the thermal paste or even upgrade your cooling solution. The i9-14900KF generates a lot of heat now, and if you haven't updated your BIOS, consider doing that too. Intel had some serious microcode issues with 13th and 14th gen processors, which could lead to real damage if not addressed.
I had no idea about the BIOS issues! I thought it was just the 14th gen that had problems. I planned to undervolt it but never got around to it.
I built this thing around November, and I made sure to grab the latest BIOS at that time. So hopefully, I avoided that issue. My PSU is the Asus Rog Strix 1000W.