Reports of stability problems with certain i9-13900K and i9-14900K processors have been coming in for several weeks now. According to some, Intel’s desire to push the frequencies of its architecture to the limit in an attempt to keep up with AMD is the main reason. With insane maximum frequencies often achieved at the cost of excessively high voltage and infernal temperatures, the consequences are disastrous. Another reason for the growing number of after-sales services is that some manufacturers are offering problematic motherboard profiles in order to have more marketing arguments than their competitors. Intel, motherboard manufacturers and end-users: there’s no doubt that everyone has pushed these processors beyond their limits, and now the consequences are coming.
Stability of “big” Intel, a problem that seems to be getting worse
In order to limit the damage, MSI has just proposed a solution that allows stable use, and above all without risk to your hardware. A simple manipulation in the BIOS allows you to restore the processor’s power and voltage limits to the default settings via “CPU Cooler Tuning”. To do this, go to the CPU Cooler Tuning menu and select “Boxed Cooler” to return to a power limit of 253 W. You can also restore processor voltage behavior to default settings by selecting the “Intel Default” option in “CPU Lite Load Control” in the MSI BIOS.
Power limit and “easy” OC = inevitable catastrophe
Asus has gone down a similar path. If these solutions can limit stability problems and, above all, curb the number of processor after-sales returns, that’s a good thing. However, we must bear in mind that these parameters will significantly degrade performance (between 8% and 15% in some cases).
This story raises the question of whether certain motherboard manufacturers are willing to open the door to certain parameter settings, the dangers of which are well known in the world of overclocking. In fact, “easily” unlocking the power lever to couple it to automatic OC mechanisms is clearly playing Russian roulette and running the risk of damaging your processor. It’s difficult to apply magic (and automatic) recipes to a processor. The same reference will NEVER behave in the same way depending on your copy. Giving “free access” to power and voltage limits is like giving the keys to the bar to a 14-year-old…
