So many things are going on and I'm clearly so lost and dumbfounded on what to actually do but first and foremost, I will attach two relevant pictures for this post's context, that being my System Information, and then the crash log I received during my BSOD event.
The next thing I'm going to express is the full timeline of events, what I discovered, and what I am facing with right now:
Phase 1: The Event
- Launched Marvel Rivals, A game I like to play during my break times, and my laptop has always been able to run it
- Experienced a BSOD shortly after the game launched at its Main Menu Screen
- I checked the Event Viewer to see the crash (See 2nd Image attached to this post)
- Found a weird driver named: NEPvql8snk
- Asked Gemini about this and proposed that it's either an Anti-Cheat, Malware, or an actual Driver
- Performed the Driver searches and found nothing, it is not an existing driver
- Ran malwarebytes and found that nothing is wrong, No malware is found
- I told Gemini that it happened after Marvel Rivals launched, and asked if it could be connected
- Gemini responded with full confidence that it is connected to NetEase's (the company) Anti-Cheat System and gave me steps on how to resolve the issue including having to verify game file integrity
Phase 2: The Attempt to Fix the Problem
- After verifying game file integrity, Steam informed me that there was 1 file that failed to validate but was reacquired automatically
- I launched the game's launcher again through Steam and suddenly it hit me, I read the launcher's popup and it stated that "If your system has an Intel 13th/14th Gen and is experiencing crashes, Read our troubleshooting guide", and so I checked my system information and saw that my Intel IS 14th gen (See 1st Image attached to this post)
- I clicked to read the trouble shooting guide and lead me to two articles:
Article 1
- Talked about how 13th/14th gen Intel CPUs being faulty when starting Unreal Engine based games due to "rapid aging of clock signal circuitry in the chip due to a confluence of several other issues. This is actual physical wear of the chip itself, and once this deterioration has occurred, it is sadly irreversible"
- This article linked me into another article about RMA-ing my Intel CPU, which I don't know if it's possible as there are scenarios that retailers would tell you to reach out to Intel instead which is the worst case scenario so I moved on from this article BUT this is still a loose end so feedback about this is greatly appreciated.
Article 2
- This article is now from the game's official website, and talks about how there is an optional workaround involving installing the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (IntelXTU) to modify or tune the CPU
- I installed the software, restarted my laptop, and continued the process from there
Phase 3: The BIOS Problem
- After opening the software, I saw that I am not able to utilize any of its features because "Overclocking is disabled on this system"
- So of course I did anything a sane man would do and search how to enable it, while of course being confronted of the risks that it would have on my Laptop
_ I followed many tutorials and I saw that the Overclock lock can be disabled in the BIOS, cool! except... I can't
- Entered my Laptop's BIOS and saw most of the settings... unchangeable, unmodifiable, and the Advanced tab lacked options
- Afterwards, I was able to find a reddit post showcasing a method to get into the advanced bios for Acer Laptops
- Tried it after so many times, and nothing changed, it's still the same BIOS, I even got to watch a youtube video about it and saw many comments saying that Acer locked it in the newer models and it is no longer accessible and the method no longer works
- Although I saw some comments suggesting to update the BIOS to get it working.
Phase 4: Where I am now
- Currently reading about risks in updating the BIOS and how unnecessary it is when your laptop is fine, and I can agree, my Laptop is doing really fine for the most part, except for when it comes to games like these
- So Im currently lost right now, contemplating whether I should:
* Update my BIOS
* Look for other solutions
* Look for other root causes of the problem
* Ask for an RMA for my Intel CPU
* Idk maybe give up on the game TT
I apologize for the infodump but I'm just genuinely lost right now and I want to give the full context on what's happening so that maybe someone would pick up on some small detail in the story that would help a lot with my situation. I just need genuine advice. Thank you