Receive the latest update or troubleshoot the Chrome issue related to Intel 14th Gen.
Receive the latest update or troubleshoot the Chrome issue related to Intel 14th Gen.
Hello everyone, for reference my setup looks like this: motherboard – ASUS Maximus Z790 Dark Hero (fully updated BIOS & drivers), CPU – Intel i9-14900KS, RAM – 2 x Corsair Dominator Titanium First Edition 32GB (2x16GB), 7200Mhz (four sticks running smoothly at 5800Mhz), boot disk – Samsung 990 Pro 1TB SSD NVMe, game drive – Kingston FURY Renegade 2TB SSD NVMe, storage – Samsung 870 EVO SATA 4TB, Crucial MX500 2TB SSD, GPU – ASUS RTX 3090 OC, power supply – ENERMAX Maxtytan 1250w Titanium (switched to Enermax Revolution D.F.X 1200W Gold after problems on the 12V rail), case – Phanteks Enthoo Elite fully watercooled, dual loop.
In March 2024 I acquired my first 14900KS. Since then there have been many changes, especially with Intel. In short, until they sorted things out I had to swap two CPUs. The first one stopped working just two weeks after purchase, the second lasted a few months but eventually failed too. Both showed minimal issues before crashing and the system wouldn’t boot. After fixing microcode and replacing the CPU a third time, I thought it was resolved. But about a month ago my PSU began acting erratically – random shutdowns, no response to power button. I used the old unit (12 years old) to confirm it was the PSU. It was replaced within warranty while I waited for the Seasonic Prime TX-1600 Noctua Edition.
During troubleshooting I reset the BIOS, removed two RAM sticks, tried XMP with and without, adjusted NVMe position, reinserted CPU, reconnected power cables, and attempted formatting – most attempts failed. I’ve listed all the CPU replacement dates below for clarity.
Purchased March 2024
Swapped in April 2024
Swapped again in September 2024
Swapped in February 2025
Issues encountered included BSODs, “Critical Process Died”, and problems with “execute of no execute memory”. Software challenges involved unpacking failures from NVIDIA, Steelseries, Chrome installers/updates. Chrome crashes often triggered by “Status_Access_Violation”, OCCT RAM tests showed CPU errors or BSODs, but MEMTEST86 passed normally. The PC would boot the motherboard logo, then enter Windows boot screen, stay for 10–20 seconds, trigger a BSOD, and recover. It would also fail to load PCIe NVMe drives intermittently – sometimes present, sometimes missing.
Currently I’m on my fourth CPU (three replacements), and I suspect the current one may have similar problems. I’ve started seeing Status_Access_Violation on Chrome occasionally, similar to the first CPU, but not yet a full failure. RAM tests with MEMTEST86 and OCCT showed no errors.
Anyone else have faced multiple CPU changes? Have you noticed RAM frequency might be too high for the current CPU? Did anyone experience issues with Chrome-based browsers recently? Any advice would be appreciated. (Please don’t mention platform or generation, unless you have a 2K for a new build.) Thank you!
Well you have a ks. Those are exceptionally susceptible to it since those are overtuned out of the factory. Then you also have the dark hero. A niche overpriced board that doesn't get heaps of support due to being a low volume product. So basically it's broken again, replace it with a non ks this time or if you get a ks back just sell it and then make sure to LIMIT the bios manually in the dark hero so it DOES NOT go over the acceptable voltages. Fyi 5800mhz on ram is fine thats basically just normal speed for ddr5 cpu's anyway so no sweat there unless you push the voltages. A couple people on ks's have had the same problems yes. The posts I remember all had asus boards too funnily enough. Except one had a msi meg another limited volume product. Typical behavior of these to push chips harder to seem more worth it but well a 150$ board can do the same really :p. Asus being a known one to really push the limits Else if this is just a gaming rig you can get an i5. It easily maxes a 3090 or just ryzen swap. 7700x + board is less than the price of a 14900ks used at this point in time. Quick show of it since well ram you can keep: PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/2dBC8Q CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 4.7 GHz 8-Core Processor ($479.00 @ Abt) Motherboard: ASRock B850M Pro RS Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard ($148.99 @ Newegg) Total: $627.99 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-03-18 14:52 EDT-0400 All you need and faster or well get a half the price 7700x it's cheap and VERY good. Either that or get an i5 13600/14600 those aren't as affected by it.
The quote was made by someone expressing frustration over repeated failures, suggesting a need to discard current efforts and switch to a different solution.
From what I understand based on the BIOS information, the CPU stays within Intel specifications. I even adjusted it further by selecting the Performance Profile instead of Extreme, which is what the power rating should be set to for Wattage. When it comes to voltages, the CPU voltage rises to about 1.3V under load, though I didn’t see it exceed that. Idle voltage isn’t clear to me. Is there a method or software I can use to check this while the system is idle? I’m also considering setting a maximum voltage just in case. The documentation suggests the maximum should be around 1.5V, but I want to confirm that’s accurate. Regarding RAM voltages, I’m not sure. The only overclocking I’ve done is with XMP profile; nothing else. For CPU swapping, I probably won’t change that. I plan to upgrade my GPU (not the 50 Series yet, but power will be important), add water cooling, a different motherboard, and possibly a waterblock. Thanks for the advice—appreciate it. In reality, insanity is the actual definition (from Far Cry 3), Vaas: Did I ever tell you what insanity means? It’s doing the exact same thing repeatedly, expecting things to change. By that saying, after four CPUs I’m definitely insane. That’s my current plan if it doesn’t work out. Five years of warranty, baby—if you think I’m wrong, I’ll consider it too.
The device includes a waterblock, but a standard CPU waterblock suffices. The issue is straightforward—similar to how the 14900K chips are prone to failure because they’re shipped with issues. The 14600K and 13600K models perform just a bit slower, around 10%, which isn’t significant since they still handle high-end GPUs smoothly in single-player games at 1440p and deliver hundreds of FPS in esports. The 14900K offers more cores, but the i5 already provides ample performance, making it unnecessary. For AMD, the 9800X3D is faster than the 14900K and you only need a compatible block or reuse your existing one, given AMD’s strong AM4 support. Stick with a reliable waterblock and avoid the 14900K unless you’re certain. Monitoring isn’t essential beyond a basic logbook from a monitoring tool.
Here’s a revised version of your text:
It’s all the issues I’ve experienced with the i7-14700k. Browser errors kept appearing no matter what. Problems with unpacking files were unpredictable, which is why waiting too long could lead to firmware corruption and require a firmware update through a backup method. I haven’t had to replace it again, but I only enabled XMP once—it triggered a BSOD right away, so I’ve kept it off since then. The original CPU was installed in May, placing me in a similar situation during that exchange. I’ve also been concerned about it failing again, especially after some random program crashes have occurred. If the browser or unpacking files start to fail, I know it’s done.
Visit C:\Windows\Minidump to see if any minidump files exist. If present, return to the Windows directory and transfer the entire Minidump folder to the Downloads folder (use your desktop if needed). Compress the copied folder and include it in a post. Please adhere strictly to instructions since Windows doesn't allow file manipulation there.
Warning: A colleague experienced similar problems. His system had a 13900KS, and it wouldn't boot with XMP enabled. It would display the Mobo logo with the Windows loading icon in the best case, followed by a BSOD. He disabled XMP and after about a year and a half his CPU failed. This happened before he replaced the unit, which resolved the issue. Recently, after replacing three CPUs, he hasn't encountered any problems yet. If you replace the CPU soon, I'm not too concerned—maybe it's just wear from the process. Remember to empty the loops, remove the motherboard, wait a few weeks for the new CPU, reinstall everything, and then try booting again. So far, with this CPU, I haven't seen any BSODs. From past experiences, I recall errors like SSD read failures and Page Fault in non-paged area, which pointed to CPU faults. In most other cases where BSODs appeared frequently, I couldn't get into Windows at all.