Solved! PC freezing issue, tried almost everything. Still Lost

cynicalcare · Jul 19, 2024

I will keep it short. I bought a new mobo and CPU around 3 months back, installed it fine and did a test run with few games. My PC would freeze and reboot itself after 30-45 min of gaming, I thought maybe it's a PSU issue. Eventviewer simply gave the error 41, kernel power failure which didn't help. I did many benchmarks which would always be successful and my PC would function for around 2 hours idle before rebooting again or 30-45 after running benchmarks continuously. I bought a new ram of a local brand along with a 2TB SSD as my old hdd was dying anyway. The problem was still there ofc.

One day, while cleaning I broke my new mobo's cpu pins lmao. Sent it for RMA, they refused. Bought a new mobo, installed the CPU. However, I faced a new problem now. My PC would freeze randomly no matter what I did. It might be during the boot up or as soon as desktop screen shows up. I rmaed my PSU, bought g.skill ram sticks hoping it might solve but it didn't! I can't even boot now or reinstall windows because I somehow wiped the OS from the SSD. The PC only works in bios now. The moment I try to install fresh OS from usb, it freezes on the setup screen after exactly 2 minutes....

I am lost. Should I RMA the CPU? Considering that's the only thing that's left but not sure if Intel would do that.

My specs:
Intel i5 14500
GPU GTX 1070ti
G.skill ripjaws v 3200mhz 16x2 sticks
Asus b660m D4 mobo
WD SN770 Black SSD
PSU: DEEPCOOL PN750M

fralexandr · Jul 19, 2024

Have you checked/updated your bios version? b660m didn't start out supporting the 14th gen cpus.

You need revision 2603 or newer.

FYI, there appear to be at least 2 possible B660M D4, the TUF Gaming and the Prime B660M-A D4?

C1 · Jul 19, 2024

You may have a defective CPU.
No end of these reports now:

INTEL's 13th & 14th Gen CPU CHIPS are DEFECTIVE & Experience DEGRADATION in Home/Office Computers, Gaming PC's Servers & Laptops

DAPUNISHER · Jul 19, 2024

I haven't worked on that platform, but usually the board won't boot at all if the CPU is not supported. Though I have seen outliers over the years. I'd say update the bios to the latest, but if the CPU is indeed defective, you could end up with a bricked board. As I don't think any of the D4 models have bios flashback.

I'd do a basic troubleshoot now -

Boot barebones on the mainboard box. Take the 1070ti out of the mix too as you have the iGPU you can use. One stick of ram. Don't just clear CMOS, unplug the power to the wall, pop the battery out, wait a few minutes, replace. If it fails the OS install barebones with default UEFI settings tell Intel your CPU is defective and RMA.

Brainonska511 · Jul 19, 2024

Event viewer can be kind of useless. Consider looking for mini dump files, sometimes in a folder called LiveKernelReports of the Windows folder. You can open them with BlueScreenViewer to see if it could be a specific driver being flagged (and it thus might lead to the faulty hardware component).

Shmee · Jul 19, 2024

I would run memtest86 to be sure your RAM is good, but it sounds like a possible CPU stability issue, as mentioned.

cynicalcare · Jul 20, 2024

fralexandr said:
Have you checked/updated your bios version? b660m didn't start out supporting the 14th gen cpus.

You need revision 2603 or newer.

FYI, there appear to be at least 2 possible B660M D4, the TUF Gaming and the Prime B660M-A D4?

It's the latter variant. The b660m-a-d4 and yes my bios is updated to latest version it's 3001 I think

DAPUNISHER · Jul 20, 2024

cynicalcare said:
It's the latter variant. The b660m-a-d4 and yes my bios is updated to latest version it's 3001 I think

If you already did the troubleshoot and it won't install the OS, RMA the CPU.

cynicalcare · Jul 20, 2024

Shmee said:
I would run memtest86 to be sure your RAM is good, but it sounds like a possible CPU stability issue, as mentioned.

Previously when I had the old ram, I did suspect it to be faulty and did a memtest but it passed. However, I still decided to get new ones and don't think there's any issue with them for now

cynicalcare · Jul 20, 2024

DAPUNISHER said:
If you already did the troubleshoot and it won't install the OS, RMA the CPU.

I will try the troubleshoot you mentioned and if that doesn't work either, I will RMA. Thanks

DAPUNISHER · Jul 20, 2024

cynicalcare said:
I will try the troubleshoot you mentioned and if that doesn't work either, I will RMA. Thanks

I'd appreciate it if you let us know how things turn out. Always good for others looking for help to see what the solution was.

cynicalcare · Jul 21, 2024

DAPUNISHER said:
I'd appreciate it if you let us know how things turn out. Always good for others looking for help to see what the solution was.

I raised a support ticket on Intel forum. They are yet to reply. I will update things as they progress.

lenjack · Sep 20, 2024

Have you considered a heat issue?

BoomerD · Sep 20, 2024

One other thought...is the RAM (old and new) listed on the board's QVL? While manufacturers generally don't test every possible manufacturer's offering, the ones on the list have been tested to make sure they work.

That's not to say that RAM that isn't listed won't work, but using RAM that's been tested by the manufacturer usually eliminates that possible problem.

cynicalcare · Sep 22, 2024

cynicalcare said:
I will keep it short. I bought a new mobo and CPU around 3 months back, installed it fine and did a test run with few games. My PC would freeze and reboot itself after 30-45 min of gaming, I thought maybe it's a PSU issue. Eventviewer simply gave the error 41, kernel power failure which didn't help. I did many benchmarks which would always be successful and my PC would function for around 2 hours idle before rebooting again or 30-45 after running benchmarks continuously. I bought a new ram of a local brand along with a 2TB SSD as my old hdd was dying anyway. The problem was still there ofc.

One day, while cleaning I broke my new mobo's cpu pins lmao. Sent it for RMA, they refused. Bought a new mobo, installed the CPU. However, I faced a new problem now. My PC would freeze randomly no matter what I did. It might be during the boot up or as soon as desktop screen shows up. I rmaed my PSU, bought g.skill ram sticks hoping it might solve but it didn't! I can't even boot now or reinstall windows because I somehow wiped the OS from the SSD. The PC only works in bios now. The moment I try to install fresh OS from usb, it freezes on the setup screen after exactly 2 minutes....

I am lost. Should I RMA the CPU? Considering that's the only thing that's left but not sure if Intel would do that.

My specs:
Intel i5 14500
GPU GTX 1070ti
G.skill ripjaws v 3200mhz 16x2 sticks
Asus b660m D4 mobo
WD SN770 Black SSD
PSU: DEEPCOOL PN750M

Hey guys!! As expected, the processor was faulty. I contacted Intel, shipped the CPU and after few days, they shipped back a replacement without specifying any reason lol. After I asked them what was the issue, they simply said the processor wouldn't boot up and hence they sent me the new chip. I tested it and yes there are no issues now whatsoever! I tested cyberpunk for hours for days and no problems. But as there are many reports claiming 14th gen CPUs to be faulty, I updated bios to microcode update to be on the safe side(hopefully) at least lol.

I am facing a somewhat minor issue now though with Daisy chaining my ram. The second slot seems like it's dead. I can't afford to RMA my mobo as it is too time consuming and brain draining, so I am just using the sticks on adjacent slots with xmp enabled without any issues. (Asus sucks btw)

Thanks dapunisher and everyone else who responded!!

P.S: idk how to close this thread lmao.

cynicalcare · Sep 22, 2024

BoomerD said:
One other thought...is the RAM (old and new) listed on the board's QVL? While manufacturers generally don't test every possible manufacturer's offering, the ones on the list have been tested to make sure they work.

That's not to say that RAM that isn't listed won't work, but using RAM that's been tested by the manufacturer usually eliminates that possible problem.

I rmaed the cpu. It was the problem

cynicalcare · Sep 22, 2024

DAPUNISHER said:
I'd appreciate it if you let us know how things turn out. Always good for others looking for help to see what the solution was.

Yeah. The CPU was faulty! I got it rmaed. Sorry for the late reply but it took me a while to get things done. Thanks man

cynicalcare · Sep 22, 2024

In

Shmee said:
I would run memtest86 to be sure your RAM is good, but it sounds like a possible CPU stability issue, as mentioned.

Indeed, it was CPU!!

Torn Mind · Sep 22, 2024

Microcode probably will only delay the demise of the new chip. So don't count on a very long window of operation.

Brainonska511 · Sep 22, 2024

Torn Mind said:
Microcode probably will only delay the demise of the new chip. So don't count on a very long window of operation.

I don't recall the 14500 being impacted by the degradation issues. It certainly wasn't included in the extended warranty support for 13th and 14th gen processors.

DAPUNISHER · Sep 22, 2024

cynicalcare said:
Yeah. The CPU was faulty! I got it rmaed. Sorry for the late reply but it took me a while to get things done. Thanks man

Gratitude for reporting back. I marked the thread solved. And there is no need to close the thread, it is a source of help for searchers experiencing the same symptoms.

Brainonska511 said:
I don't recall the 14500 being impacted by the degradation issues. It certainly wasn't included in the extended warranty support for 13th and 14th gen processors.

It's actually Alder Lake isn't it?

Brainonska511 · Sep 22, 2024

DAPUNISHER said:
Gratitude for reporting back. I marked the thread solved. And there is no need to close the thread, it is a source of help for searchers experiencing the same symptoms.

It's actually Alder Lake isn't it?

Yes, I believe anything below the 13600/14600 was really just rebranded/repackaged Alder Lake.

manly · Sep 25, 2024

cynicalcare said:
I am facing a somewhat minor issue now though with Daisy chaining my ram. The second slot seems like it's dead. I can't afford to RMA my mobo as it is too time consuming and brain draining, so I am just using the sticks on adjacent slots with xmp enabled without any issues. (Asus sucks btw)

Assuming you're planning on using this PC for many happy years, I'd bite the bullet and RMA the motherboard.

Brainonska511 said:
Yes, I believe anything below the 13600/14600 was really just rebranded/repackaged Alder Lake.

That's pretty ~~gross~~ lame.

Brainonska511 · Sep 25, 2024

manly said:
Assuming you're planning on using this PC for many happy years, I'd bite the bullet and RMA the motherboard.

That's pretty ~~gross~~ lame.

Considering Raptor Lake issues, seems like those people may have dodged a bullet.

Solved! PC freezing issue, tried almost everything. Still Lost

Junior Member

Platinum Member

Platinum Member

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member

Lifer

Memory & Storage, Graphics Cards Mod Elite Member

Junior Member

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member

Junior Member

Junior Member

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member

Junior Member

Platinum Member

No Lifer

Junior Member

Junior Member

Junior Member

Junior Member

Lifer

Lifer

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member

Lifer

Lifer

Lifer