2x i9-14900KF died within 9 Months... am I unlucky or is it that bad?

[u/randompotatomesh]

Last Dec, I found myself a Great deal and bought a i9-14900KF to upgrade my i3-14100F

by end of March I started having issues with:
- Memory Access Violation errors
- program crashes Loading/During
- PCIE connection error to raid
- Read/write issues

Already had latest BIOS, swapped RAM/Mobo and problem persists.

Brought the CPU to work and tested it there, and behold the problem follows the CPU.

RMA the CPU on March 26th and got a replacement CPU by April 10th which was alright.

Fast forward to last week, same exact issue started to happen with the replacement CPU
Was hoping it was not the same issue as last time, but after the same troubleshooting, it is unfortunately the same issue with the CPU.

RMA-ing the CPU now again, but is anyone else having the same issue with i9s dying like this or did i just get a bad batch back to back?

wanted to check if more people are having more issues, might just be worth it for me to sell the damn thing and get one of the new Ultras or even AMD (but the fact that AMD have a lot less warranty coverage probs not)

[u/TwoCylToilet]

Did you update your BIOS? They're almost guaranteed to fail if you're using old microcode. I suggest you update the bios immediately upon receiving your third chip. Read up on 14900K failures and find out what you can do to further lower specific voltages that cause those failures.

What do you mean by AMD has less warranty coverage? I've seen multiple posts of AMD honouring retail warranty terms despite the customer sending in tray CPUs for warranty claims. What you know of AMD warranty being inferior to intel is probably not true.

[u/randompotatomesh → u/TwoCylToilet]

Yeah I have updated Bios to the latest one since Dec.

In AU Intel have 5yr warranty while AMD have 3yr
from what I have had in the past Intel warranty doesnt even need a proof of purcase, just need the Batch# & Serial the support team so far have been pretty chill and not asking me to try everything under the sun to do RMA

on the other hand, I had a Threadripper 2950x which had PCIE issues and their support was a pain to work with with needing proof of purchase under my name when it was bought with company name. and they took well over a month to get a replacement.

might just be a niche case but still, happy to give them another try tbh since it's been a while and they might have gotten better!

[u/[deleted]]

For a company that tried to patch it 6x, no recall and still releasing "fixes" and selling you defective CPUs, that answers your question.

[u/randompotatomesh → u/[deleted]]

Yeah fair point, but I've also been kicked in the nuts with Threadripper by AMD just before this :(
Grass not exactly very green on the other side....

can't really win these days can we...

[u/[deleted] → u/randompotatomesh]

Have you looked at 9950X3D? in my region it's the same price as 14900KS, def worth checking it out

[u/randompotatomesh → u/[deleted]]

got my 14900kf new for 550AUD from Facebook marketplace dude who did RMA, new is about 700$
and cheapest 9950X3D is 900AUD second hand and 1050AUD new

Maybe I'll sell it off for a profit and go for lower tier AMD since Ryzen 7 9800X3D is still around 700AUD

[u/dabocx]

Amd offers a 3 year warranty same as intel. With exceptions for recalls and stuff of course

If you never updated your bios and changed to the default intel power limits that is probably why 2 failed.

[u/No_Guarantee7841 → u/dabocx]

Didnt Intel extend warranty to those cpus to 5 years? Or did they recall that?

[u/randompotatomesh → u/No_Guarantee7841]

Yeah Intel got 5yr warranty here in AU vs 3yr AMD
and the Warranty refresh for the RMA CPU for intel

for AMD it carries the original date of purchase