I'm building a new PC with an Intel i9-14900K, MSI Z790 Gaming Plus WiFi motherboard, RTX 3060 Ti, Corsair 750e power supply, 32GB of Lexar Thor DDR5, and a 1TB SSD. Windows installation consistently fails around 15% or just after 26%, producing one of these errors: 0x8007025D, 0x8007007A, 0x8007000D, 0x80004005, or 0xC0000005.
I've tried multiple USB drives, tested both RAM sticks separately in different slots, updated the BIOS, run the Media Creation Tool as administrator, checked the power supply, and disconnected everything except the SSD, one monitor, keyboard, and mouse. The CPU, GPU, and SSD were working in my previous PC a couple of days ago, but the problem has continued since assembling this system. I'm unsure whether the motherboard could be defective or what else I should test.
5 Answers
Recreate the installer on a different USB drive using the official ISO and test another rear motherboard USB port, preferably a USB 2.0 port if the board has one. These errors can result from corrupted installation media or unreliable USB reads. Don’t connect other storage devices while installing so the boot files cannot be placed on the wrong drive.
I’d completely wipe the target SSD before trying again instead of relying on the existing partitions. From the Windows installer, press Shift+F10, run DiskPart, select the correct drive, use clean, then recreate the partition during setup. Be extremely careful to select the right disk. If possible, try installing to a different known-good SSD as well; a drive can boot an old installation and still fail during a fresh Windows deployment.
Run a proper memory test such as MemTest86 for several passes with XMP disabled. Testing one stick in each slot is useful, but it may not catch intermittent errors or a memory-controller issue. If the test reports errors, try the other stick, a different recommended slot, or a replacement kit. Also confirm that the motherboard BIOS is current and supports the processor with Intel default settings enabled.
Start with the simplest configuration: load BIOS defaults, disable XMP, and make sure the memory is running at its standard JEDEC speed. With a 14900K and DDR5 system, unstable memory settings can cause several different installation errors even when each RAM stick appears to work by itself. Also check that the BIOS is using Intel’s recommended default power and CPU settings rather than an aggressive motherboard profile.
The fact that the SSD worked in the old computer doesn’t completely rule it out, and the same applies to the RAM. The fastest way to isolate this is to change one variable at a time: default BIOS settings, fresh installer USB, a fully erased target drive, and then a different SSD or memory kit. If Windows still fails with known-good media and storage, motherboard or CPU stability becomes much more likely.
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