Z790 PG Riptide won't post i9-14900KF

I'm glad you were able to be refunded. I have the return started for mine and I'm shipping it back today, with a note that it is defective.

Thanks for the follow-up!

Nice rigs!

I only build a system once every five-ish years and I agree--I think I'll stick to Newegg next time, as they've never done me wrong. I only went with Amazon since shipping was faster (we were leaving on a long road trip and wanted to be sure the parts were on hand prior to leaving), and all but the motherboard were in stock. Everything else on the order has been fine--SSD, graphics card, memory, all good.

I found the box for the i9-14900K and the only difference between that and the i9-13900KF packaging was a different label on the Intel box telling which processor was inside. It even had the same Intel sticker on the enclosed booklet. So it's very odd how this all played out.

Seriously?? I wasn't expecting that! Amazing.

I have until 1/31 to return mine to Amazon, and it's going back tomorrow or Wednesday. I won't mention "counterfeit" (as I really don't have proof) but will return it as non-working.

However, Amazon really should know about it. I just don't know how to contact them--they really have no means to report situations like this. Intel should be the one to reach out to them, to be honest. I am pretty sure mine was sold by Amazon and not a third-party seller (who fulfills via Amazon).

My own success story--I received the i9-13900KF from Amazon and it's working perfectly. Rendering 4K60P videos with this CPU and the Radeon RX7800XT has been wicked fast.

That's good to know. My return is Amazon eligible until Jan 31, but rather than risk having my Amazon account closed, I might give the Intel warranty a try. (It's one thing to return a $20 vs. one that cost around $450.)

I did just order the i9-13900KF (noticing it has a much higher rating), and it will be here tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed this will work! (With your positive success, I'm hoping I have the same.) I'll report back with what I find.

That's not encouraging and I agree--what are the odds of you getting two bad CPUs, and me getting a third one?

I'm on the fence as to whether or not I send the board and CPU back for a refund, or buy an i9-13900KF and try that instead. I won't be using the onboard graphics, so I should be able to disable that in BIOS. I just don't want to have to return a second CPU.

I'm just concerned this motherboard is a turd. Yet you had a highly-rated MSI that won't boot your two 14900Ks either.

I inquired with a friend of mine who retired from Intel, and even he admitted that after all the problems I had, that I'd be better off ditching the board and CPU and going over to AMD. So, there's that.