My i9 suffered from the much written about degradation and instabilities. My retailer has told me I can switch to an AMD system if I wish, but I am torn.
Before the CPU started failing I was very happy with the performance in VR (Pimax Crystal and RTX 4070 Super OC).
Given that Intel solves the issue and I get an i9 14900KF without issues would I gain anything by switching, and if so would the 7900X3D or the 7950X3d be the better choice?
I do not know what to do. My gut feeling tells me to stick with the i9. BEtter the evil you know than the evil you donât.
How long can you hang on for? 15th gen is around the corner. If itâs a free replacement, and use your computer for anything other than MSFS, I would stick with the i9. If you only use it for MSFS, then the smart money would be on the AMD, but I have always had misgivings on AMD CPUâs, and their performance in other areas, not to mention pretty horrible compatibility issues with certain games.
In those edge cases AMD may be faster, but Intel would be my bet from a stability standpoint. Thatâs one reason why Iâm still on an 11900K, awaiting 15th gen.
I got an RMA for my i9-13900K and i9-14900KF (two PCs). Set the short duration power package limit to 253 and long duration power package limit to 125 and have had no problems since playing for hours on end with maxed out settings. I will update my BIOS later in August though.
My retailer is offering me either a new i9 (for my ASUS TUF GAMING MOBO) or a swap to AMD with a new CPU and motherboard. I am aware that there is a new BIOS now.
Note that the issue was NOT overclocking and motherboard manufacturers running the chips out of spec. The new BIOS allegedly just undervolts and underclocks the CPU to avert/delay the onset of the issues at the cost of a performance loss versus original specs.
Despite Intel press releases implying the issue was with motherboard manufacturers not their chips, the problem was actually bad doping during manufacture. Intel dropped the ball badly with this issue some Datacentres reporting a 50% failure rate on i9s on default settings over 3 months.
There is a third option which is to go back to a 12th Gen i9.
Unmodified the 14th gen i9 had more cores and maybe a 10-15% overall performance gain over the 12th gen.
I have no idea how a 12th Gen i9 compares to a 14th gen with the 14th gen modified BIOS, but presumably the 14th gen i9 will lose some of itâs lead over the 12th bringing the two closer in performance.
Neither one. Instead, if you go AMD the answer is 7800X3D.
Now, as was said, if youâre building for other apps/games then it may be better to stick with Intel thru their RMA process. But if youâre building solely or mostly for MSFS then Iâd go 7800X3D or the upcoming 9xxxx3D.
Look at it this way, Intel 13th gen cpuâs were released in Oct 2022 and the 14th gen cpuâs in Oct 2023 and they are now just coming out and confirming there is an issue!!!
I donât categorize the âbios fixâ as an actual fix. Itâs more of a workaround so your cpu doesnât further degrade and fail.
If you primarily use your PC for the sim either the 7800x3d/7950x3d would be much better with their 3D cache.
The only reason they admitted it was a doping problem and not just people overclocking and MB manufacturers overvolting was Gamers Nexus revealed they had a whistle blower at Intel tell them there was more to it than was being talked about.
They still did not address the oxidation doping problem in the press release and implied it was a voltage issue - but appended details of the real degradation cause in an appended Reddit post.
This. The 7900x3d performs worse in gaming, and the 7950x3d effectively converts to a 7800x3d when gaming anyway, both results due to core parking that has to happen (which was also causing stability issues) that the 7800x3d didnât need.
The only way Iâd recommend the more expensive 7900/7950 CPUs would be if you also do a lot of production workloads and simply donât have the time to wait.
While youâre at it, this would be a good time to get out from under that Asus mobo, if you can, due their latest controversies. An i9 plus Asus mobo? Man I hope you donât have a 4090 or Gigabyte PSU in there too!
Right now and you are already in a 14k Intel âbudgetâ, go for both now and upgradable performance with the 7950X3D and 670 chipset.
Avoid the 7900X3D completely it is and will always be a dead end.
Chasing VR you want to have the ability to go to the next CPU. Itâs within $2-300 of the 7800X3D/650. Which is fine for the entirety of MS2024 with flat screens but VR is always one new innovation away from warranting another upgrade.
Thank-you @EdamllamaB for adding additional âcolorâ above. Intel has now joined Asus as companies to seriously reconsider doing business with.
Letâs pls stop propagating this forward as the AMD performance and ultimate power plans NEVER park cores (and games are always run on the correct CCD with 3d-cache). While parking cores was necessary when the x3d chips were first introduced to run games on the correct CCD MS and AMD have optimized the process and it runs much more efficiently.
Having said that, the 78000x3d is the price/performance king for gaming and unless there are other work/content creation considerations the 7800x3d is the clear choice over Intel.
I took a screenshots with the Ultimate performance plan which never parks cores (same with Performance power plan) and the Balanced power plan which does still park cores. The only thing changed was the power plan via Windows Control Panel (no reboot required to change). Note in screenshots below with both power plans the sim is running on the 1st CCD with 3d-cache.
I have a 7900x3d with 2 CCDâs and you can see in the Windows Resource Manager on the left side of the screenshots if the cores in the 2nd CCD are parked or not. Iâm not running any other apps or using any utilities such as Process Lasso. The screenshots of the sim on the right are washed out because I have HDR10 turned on in the sim and the Windows screenshot utility canât handle HDR10:
I opted for the 7950X3D as I need to use this PC for more than just MSFS. But, my retailer just swapped out the internals and didnât even boot it up. Now I am stuck as it will not boot, and I canât install windows on the M2 drive because the installer does not see the M2 drive. All posts I see on the subject refer to the Intel rapid storage driver and intel CPUs, ASUS only has an exe with AMD chipset drivers, and unpacking it to a USB drive does not produce any valid drivers. Any suggestions appreciated.
Ensure that your motherboardâs BIOS/UEFI is updated to the latest version. Sometimes newer BIOS versions include better support for M2 drives.
Enter the BIOS/UEFI setup and ensure that the M2 drive is recognized in the storage settings. Look for options related to NVMe configuration and ensure they are set correctly. Sometimes enabling or disabling specific settings like âCSMâ (Compatibility Support Module) can help the system recognize the M2 drive.
Also re-seat the M2 Drive: Make sure the M2 drive is properly seated in its slot. Sometimes, re-seating the drive can resolve recognition issues.
When installing Windows:
Use a Different USB Port: Try using a different USB port for your installation media, preferably a USB 2.0 port, as some USB 3.0 ports might have compatibility issues during installation.
Disconnect Other Drives: Temporarily disconnect any other drives (both SATA and NVMe) to ensure that the Windows installer focuses on the M2 drive.
AMD Drivers:
Download the latest AMD chipset drivers from the AMD website.
Extract the driver package to a USB drive. You might need to use a tool like 7-Zip to extract the files from the .exe package.
Start the Windows installation process and, when you reach the screen where you select the drive, choose the option to âLoad driverâ and navigate to the extracted AMD NVMe driver on your USB drive.
So they swapped it out and didnât spend the 9 seconds to see if it booted? The MB bios flash only takes a few minutes but usually is done with the least amount of trouble by having just the power supply hooked up and nothing else installed, so itâs more likely to recognize everything installed immediately.
M2 drive is visible under NVMe settings. Self test passed.
AHCI enabled.
Windows installer booted (UEFI mode).
I have an additional layer of complexity. My other machine is a Mac. When I extract the driver exe the folder names are Chinese characters. The files look fine, but there is nothing that I can identify as an NVMe driver. And Windows installer does not find a suitable driver.
Why on earth donât the chipset manufacturers supply drivers for users who do not yet have windows installed??? And why does Intel and Microsoft keep on saying NVMe does not require a driver, when there are literally thousands of threads on the web with users who need a driver for the windows installer to see the NVMe drive?
Turns out they had indeed installed Windows and tested that everything worked. But because I chose to switch to AMD they formatted the drive before handing it back to me. Because the OS follows the Motherboard, switching CPU and Motherboard caused me to lose the Windows license I paid for when I bought the PC. So because Intel messed up with the i9 I am out 70USD for a new license.
Now I do know that the OS (OEM) usually follows the machine, but this was a switch as part of an RMA not an Upgrade or switch of my own choosing. I think they should have given me a new license, or at the very least mentioned that I could switch to AMD but that I would have to get a new Windows license. I paid for a PC with Windows 11, and after a ârepairâ I now had a PC without Windows, but with working hardware. Go figure.
Had to hand the PC back in in the end and have them install Windows as nothing I tried made the M2 visible. All they said was that a driver shouldnât be needed. My Win 11 installer begged to differ. So I do not really know what the fix was.
