13900KS Intel Turbo Boost Crashing Everything (MSI Z790, 4090)

[TahTaOo]

I have tried to fix an issue for months where Intel Turbo Boost is causing several applications and games to crash to desktop.  I used to be able to go into the BIOS and manually turn off Intel Turbo Boost but recently it appears that this option has either been removed or is only available if I do a hard shutdown of the PC.  I have attempted several different solutions that I have found online and determined that Intel Turbo Boost is the culprit here and this is why:

PC Specifications:

• CPU: 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13900KS
• CPU cooler: Corsair iCUE H150i ELITE CAPELLIX 360mm RGB Water Cooling Kit
• Motherboard: MSI Z790 MEG Godlike Intel LGA 1700 eATX Motherboard
• RAM: G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB Series 64GB (2 x 32GB) DDR5-6000 PC5-48000 CL30
• SSD/HD WD Black SN850X 2TB 112L 3D TLC NAND Flash PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe M.2
• GPU: Gigabyte NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Windforce V2 Overclocked
• PSU: Corsair HX1500i
• Chassis: NZXT H710i
• OS: Windows 11 Pro
• Monitor 1: Alienware - AW3423DWF 34" Quantum Dot OLED Curved Ultrawide Gaming Monitor - 165Hz

Tried the following configurations and the associated software results:

• Intel Default State (Intel Turbo Boost = Enabled, Intel Turbo Boost 3.0 = Enabled, and P-Core Ratio = AUTO)
  • Intel XTU = Crashes after 2 seconds of running benchmark test and / or stress testing
  • Call of Duty = Game crashes instantly when booting up
  • Battlefield 2042 = Game crashes when booting up
  • Star Citizen = Game runs with incredible frame rate for approximately 2 to 5 minutes then crashes with the error denoted below
• Intel State (Intel Turbo Boost = Disabled, Intel Turbo Boost 3.0 = Disabled, and P-Core Ratio = AUTO)
  • Intel XTU = Runs to completion with less than desirable results
  • Call of Duty = Game runs but has significantly reduced framerate, CPU limited to 3.2 GHz
  • Battlefield 2042 = Game runs but has significantly reduced framerate, CPU limited to 3.2 GHz
  • Star Citizen = Game runs but has significantly reduced framerate, CPU limited to 3.2 GHz
• Intel State (Intel Turbo Boost = Disabled, Intel Turbo Boost 3.0 = Enabled, and P-Core Ratio = AUTO)
  • Intel XTU = Runs to completion with better results
  • Call of Duty = Framerate is improved but not ideal for expected output of the CPU
  • Battlefield 2042 = Framerate is improved but not ideal for expected output of the CPU
  • Star Citizen = Framerate is improved but not ideal for expected output of the CPU
• Intel State (Intel Turbo Boost = Enabled, Intel Turbo Boost 3.0 = Disabled, and P-Core Ratio = AUTO)
  • Intel XTU = Application crashes after approximately 2 seconds of running benchmark test and / or stress testing
  • Call of Duty = Games crashes instantly after launching
  • Battlefield 2042 = Game crashes shortly after launching
  • Star Citizen = Game launches for about a minute or two and then crashes with the violation denoted below
• Intel State (Intel Turbo Boost = Disabled, Intel Turbo Boost 3.0 = Enabled, and P-Core Ratio = 55)
  • Intel XTU = Runs to completion with fairly decent results but is still limited with Turbo Boost Disabled
  • Call of Duty = Game runs with significantly improved frame rate, CPU forced to 5.5 GHz
  • Battlefield 2042 = Game runs with significantly improved frame rate, CPU forced to 5.5 GHz
  • Star Citizen = Game runs with significantly improved frame rate, CPU forced to 5.5 GHz

In addition to all the above, I have attempted to look for the SVID Behavior suggested in other posts to correct this issue; however, the MSI motherboard does not have this as an option.  At this point, I am at a loss to figure out what the true solution is to get Turbo Boost running.  This appears to be a wide spread issue across the 13900 series processors and now every time I start my PC, I have to go into the BIOS and disable the Intel Turbo Boost option in order to play / run any applications without fear of the application crashing.

Star Citizen is the only game that really provides me with a crash log that I can easily find where the crash is occurring.  Every time, the result of the crash is the same with the same error code: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION(0xC0000005) addr=0x00007FF7D6772587

To also prove that this isn't a GPU related issue, I have swapped out my 2080Ti several times in the various configurations above and the issue persists.  What is the correction for this CPU fault?

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello TahTaOo,  

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities. This situation is unacceptable to us too. I will do my best to assist you with this issue.

To be able to investigate further this issue, please provide the following:

1. Run and attach the report from the Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool.

• https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/15951/19792/intel-processor-diagnostic-tool.html

2. Run the Intel® System Support Utility (Intel® SSU) to gather more details about the system.  

• Download the Intel® SSU and save the application on your computer: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/18377/intel-system-support-utility-for-windows.html  
• Open the application, check the "Everything" checkbox, and click "Scan" to see the system and device information. The Intel® SSU defaults to the "Summary View" on the output screen following the scan. Click the menu where it says "Summary" to change to "Detailed View".  
• To save your scan, click Next and click Save.  

Regards,  

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician

[TahTaOo]

I ran the diagnostic tool and this was a screenshot of the results.  Additionally, see the "TESTRESULTS.TXT" file for the detailed information:

The "SSU_Diagnostic.txt" file contains the results of the SSU Diagnostic tool.

[rafaelh7]

My new i5-14600k has the same problem with turbo, and my friend with his i5-13600k too. That's crazy, looks like a persistent problem.

With turbo enabled, my pc restart in benchs, diagnosis tools, games and stress tests.

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello TahTaOo, 

Thanks for the reports. I noticed that your system is running BIOS version 1.50 installed on 07/20/2023 and the latest version is 7D85v17 (1.70) dated 2023-10-31, I recommend you get in contact with MSI to confirm the steps to install this new BIOS version. Once updated, check if the issue persists and let me know the outcome.

BIOS: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MEG-Z790-GODLIKE/support

rafaelh7, I recommend you open a new thread and post your issue, you will receive support based on your system and issue behavior.

Regards,  

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician

[TahTaOo]

Side note, I've been experimenting with different settings before updating my BIOS.  Leaving Intel Turbo Boost = ENABLED, Intel Turbo Boost 3.0 = Enabled, and P-Core Ratio = 52, everything works very well with no crashes and although not ideal still, provides the best performance so far.  When I have it set to 55, with Turbo Boost Enabled, it crashes quite frequently, but 52 seems to be the perfect point where it is stable.

I updated the MSI Z790 Godlike BIOS per recommendation to 1.70.  After updating, I did the following:

Intel Processor Diagnostics Tool: Passed

Intel XTU: Default MSI BIOS settings.

• Benchmark Test: Passed
• CPU Stress Test: Passed
• CPU Stress Test with AVX2: Failed
• CPU Stress Test with AVX: Passed
• Memory Stress Test: Passed

Attempted to run Star Citizen, game launched and crashed after about 2 minutes.  Checked the crash log and found that the Exception Access Violation is still occurring.  Verified the BIOS with the System Support Utility.  v1.70 appeared.

I reran above tests using the Intel XTU: Default MSI BIOS settings.

• Benchmark Test: Passed
• CPU Stress Test: Passed
• CPU Stress Test with AVX2: Passed
• CPU Stress Test with AVX: Passed
• Memory Stress Test: Passed

I was confused by what changed between the first time running the AVX2 test and the second time since I didn't change anything.  I reran the tests again:

• Benchmark Test: Passed
• CPU Stress Test: Hard crashed the PC to Blue Screen with the following error, "DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL"

After the reboot, I restarted the stress tests and they all passed.

The BIOS flash seemed to make some of the CPU stess / benchmark test be able to perform, but it appears to still be unreliable.  Any time the CPU seems to sit around max frequency with Turbo Boost Enabled, Applications crash or my PC crashes.

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello TahTaOo, 

Thanks for all the information provided so far. Before I investigate this issue further, I would like to confirm this:

1. Just to make sure, load BIOS to default settings.

2. Some motherboards on default settings overclock the CPU, try to check that all overclocking options are disabled.

3. If possible, disable the Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (Intel® XMP).

4. Make sure your RAM is running at DDR5 5600/DDR4 3200 or less.

5. Confirm with MSI why the Turbo boost option is missing from the BIOS options.

6. Run a new report from the Intel® System Support Utility (Intel® SSU), this is to have an updated version of your system.

• Download the Intel® SSU and save the application on your computer: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/18377/intel-system-support-utility-for-windows.html  
• Open the application, check the "Everything" checkbox, and click "Scan" to see the system and device information. The Intel® SSU defaults to the "Summary View" on the output screen following the scan. Click the menu where it says "Summary" to change to "Detailed View".  
• To save your scan, click Next and click Save.  

Regards,  

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician  

[TahTaOo]

Deivid, 

Thanks for the help.  I did the following:

1. Went into the BIOS, it is set to the default profile setting.
2. Verified that the CPU is not being overclocked and all options are disabled.
3. Intel XMP was disabled by default.
4. RAM was originally DDR5 6000, I went and bought DDR5 5600 to rule it out as the issue.
5. Verified that a hard reset enables the Turbo Boost option.  Although, not ideal, it is available at that point and verified as on.
6. Re-ran several things under the following conditions, (RAM Downgraded to DDR5 5600, BIOS Default with the following state Intel Turbo Boost = ENABLED, Intel Turbo Boost 3.0 = ENABLED, and P-Core Ratio = AUTO, XMP profile verified DISABLED.) as well as provided the SSU data you requested.

Intel Processing Diagnostics:

• Results: Everything passed, check the attached.

Intel Extreme Tuning Tool:

• Results:
  • Benchmark Test: Passed
  • CPU Stress Test with AVX: Passed
  • Memory Stress Test: Passed
  • CPU Stress Test with AVX2: Fails at 2 seconds every time.
  • CPU Stress Test: Failed (PC Blue Screened, DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL)
• Comment:  Interesting thing about the AVX2 test, is it is failing in the Intel Extreme Tuning Tool but passing in the Intel Processing Diagnostics tool.

System Support Utility:

• See attached for results.

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello TahTaOo, 

This follow-up is to confirm if you need any assistance on this matter or if you were able to fix it.

Let me know if you need me.

Best regards, 

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[TahTaOo]

Sorry, I have been out of town for the past week and have not been able to run the checks you have mentioned above. I will try to get to them as soon as I can.

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello TahTaOo, 

Thank you for the information provided 

I will proceed to check the issue internally and post back soon with more details. 

Best regards, 

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[DeividA_Intel · Accepted solution]

Hello TahTaOo, 

Thanks for your time. Based on your troubleshooting and the several tests you performed, I recommend you to call us or open a ticket to check the warranty option available for you.

This will help you to confirm if the issue is the motherboard or the processor. Feel free to use any of the following methods: 

1. Chat support  

2. For phone support, depending on your location, you will see the contact information on the links below:  

- Phone contact information 

- North America: Phone Number 1-916-377-7000, Monday – Friday 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Pacific Time).  

- Web ticket support 

Please keep in mind that this thread will no longer be monitored by Intel.  

Regards,  

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician