Intel 13th & 14th Gen CPUs Solution and Workaround

This page concerns Intel CPU Gen 13th/14th owners only.

Certain Intel CPUs belonging to Generations 13th and 14th are susceptible to instability, as they may contain a documented manufacturing defect. If the CPU is affected but not degraded, a BIOS update may resolve the issue. If it suffers from degradation, a workaround through the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility application (XTU) exists.

First, you must ensure your BIOS is updated to the latest version available, since Intel released an update aimed at fixing unstable 13th/14th Gen CPUs.

1. Update your BIOS.

First, you must find your motherboard's manufacturer and specific product.

On Windows:

• On your PC, search for "System Information"
• Note your "BaseBoard Manufacturer" and "BaseBoard Product"
• Search the internet for your manufacturer's official support page using both manufacturer and motherboard's names (i.e. "Gigabyte B550M K support")
• Enter the support page - Find and navigate to the BIOS section - Download the latest BIOS version and follow the installation instructions. Be careful not to interrupt installation

If a BIOS update does not resolve the crash, continue reading.

2. Lower Performance Core Ratio through Intel XTU.

High frequencies (GHz) on 13th/14th Intel CPUs may cause instability, and thus reducing them may stabilize a degraded CPU.

Prerequisite: Intel XTU requires an unlocked processor and a chipset that supports full overclocking. To learn whether you possess those:

• On your PC, search for System Information
• Inside, find "Processor"

If it does not end in a suffix, or contains only an F (i.e. 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-13700F), then it is a locked processor, and you must navigate to Fatal-D3D-Error-DXGI-Device-Removed to try general solutions. Otherwise, if it ends with the following suffixes: K/KF/KS (i.e. 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-13700K), it is an unlocked processor. If your is unlocked, find "BaseBoard Product" in the same page. If it's a Z-series motherboard (i.e. ROG STRIX Z790-F GAMING WIFI II), then it is compatible with XTU.

If both your processor and motherboard are compatible with XTU, proceed to next steps:

• Open Intel XTU, or download it here. At the time of writing, the XTUSetup version compatible with CPU Generations 13th/14th is 7.14
• In the application, navigate to Advanced Tuning
• Find "Performance Core Ratio" and write the current value somewhere first
• Reduce the ratio by a few points from its current value, then apply changes. Some reported reducing the ratio from 55x to 54, 53, or 52 stabilized the CPU. I do not recommend reducing the value below 52x.
• Launch the game and test whether crashes persist. If they do, revert Performance Core Ratio to original value, and navigate to Fatal-D3D-Error-DXGI-Device-Removed to try general solutions.