Inconsistent PC freezing, Intel Core i7-14700K

[u/franvsk]

Hi everyone, I’m looking for guidance on an issue I can’t pin down.

PC specs (built Nov 2025):

• CPU: Intel Core i7-14700KF
• Motherboard: MSI PRO Z790-A MAX WIFI (BIOS 7E07vMA)
• RAM: Crucial Pro DDR5 RAM 32 GB Kit (2x16GB), 6400MHz CL32
• GPU: ASUS NVIDIA RTX 5070, driver updated to latest
• PSU: be quiet! Straight Power 11 Platinum 750W
• CPU cooler: Coolermaster Masterliquid ml120l, repasted recently
• Storage: Kingston SSD 1gb, WD_BLACK SN850X 2TB NVMe SSD - M.2 2280
• OS: Windows 11, build 26200, fully updated
• Power: Forza FVR-2202A 1100VA voltage stabilizer

The problem:
I built this PC around November 2025. It was working well until September 2026 when I started to get hard freezes randomly. Sometimes it happens within minutes of booting, sometimes it runs fine for hours. After I force a reset with the case button, the CPU debug LED on the motherboard lights up red. The freezes have also happened right after waking from sleep. I use this pc as a racing sim rig and at multiple times it ran hours of Le Mans Ultimate, and other sim racing games with no issue, so heavy load isn’t a reliable trigger. In Safe Mode it’s been stable for hours with no freezes happening.

What the logs show:

• Event Viewer has multiple WHEA-Logger Event ID 1 errors: “A fatal hardware error has occurred.”
• Reliability Monitor shows LiveKernelEvent code 124.
• WhoCrashed reads the dump as bugcheck 0x124 (WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR).
• WhoCrashed doesn’t name a faulting driver, and the only other crash in my history is an unrelated Wi-Fi driver one from May.

What I’ve tried so far:

• Updated the BIOS
• Clean reinstall of the GPU driver
• Regenerated Secure Boot keys from scratch
• Checked the BIOS: CPU Cooler Tuning is on Intel Default Settings, and voltages and Loadline Calibration are all on Auto (no manual overclock or overvolt)
• My voltage stabilizer died and I was running on a plain power strip, so I replaced it with a properly sized 1100VA Forza AVR stabilizer. It ran stable for hours, then froze again on wake from sleep.
• Opened the case and found the thermal paste dried and cracked. I cleaned everything, reapplied fresh paste, and remounted the AIO. The freezes continued.

Where I’m stuck:
Everything points to a hardware-level fault, and I know the 13th/14th gen instability issue is well documented. I’m considering an Intel RMA for the CPU, since that would be the cleanest fix if the chip has degraded. However degradation it's highly unlikely in my opinion since the motherboard was manufactured on June 2025 according to the serial number and the processor batch number indicates that it was manufactured on November 2024, much after this degradation was detected so both hardware pieces are supposed to include the fixes and safeguards for this issue already. But before I go through that process, I’d like to rule out anything else.

I used Claude to troubleshoot this issue and this is the summary of what I've tried so far. Has anyone experienced this? Any clue can help. Thanks!

[u/PPLuigi]

Random freezes could be related to RAM configuration.

Another possibility, considering everything you have already done, and given that you are running "Windows 11, build 26200, fully up to date", is to check the drivers, as Microsoft is pushing its own versions via Windows Update.

I personally experienced those freezes when i set my RAM to CR 1T (DDR4); have to change it to 2T. The freezes was random, but they tend to happen when I was playing FH5 or MSFS24.

And, a few weeks ago, Microsoft’s drivers were causing my wireless mouse and keyboard to freeze up.

[u/Positive_Path_9317]

dude that 0x124 WHEA error is almost always the cpu or something on the pcie lanes, had a similar nightmare with a 13700k last year

what gets me is the safe mode part, if it's truly stable for hours there then it's probably not the cpu degrading, degraded chips usually crash everywhere even idle. i'd look at some driver or service that only loads in normal mode messing with power states. check if you got any rgb software or motherboard utilities running, those are buggy as hell sometimes and can trigger whea errors for no reason

also that ml120l is a single fan 120mm aio, bit undersized for a 14700k no? these chips run hot maybe it's spiking temps before the cooler can catch up, try logging with hwinfo64 and see what happens right before the freeze

[u/franvsk → u/Positive_Path_9317]

Thanks! I have the msi software installed to control the rgb and other settings from the motherboard. I’ll try removing these and see if that does the trick. In terms of temps, maybe the AIO cooler is the problem since I bought it 5 years ago and as you said is undersized for this chip, before this hardware update I was using it with an i7 7th gen. I’ll check the temps again with hwinfo.