Intel’s 13th Gen Core processors are facing issues on older Z690 boards, adversely affecting performance, compatibility, storage, and memory. First reported by the editor of Hardware Luxx, this bug is especially prominent among ASUS motherboards. One of our readers also faced this issue: their Core i7-13700KF was an unbelievable 48% slower than its predecessor on the Z690-Plus WiFi D4. These tests were conducted using the latest BIOS (version 2103) new fresh version of Windows.
In addition to the performance issues, our reader has had to contend with many compatibility issues affecting the NVMe drives and the memory. For example, the motherboard didn’t recognize the drive on the first M.2 slot, while the memory (rated for 3600MT/s) refused to run at the expected speeds. According to the client, he has tried using a brand-new memory kit from Corsair, officially compatible with the board.
Another one of our readers claims that there may be a simple fix to this tiresome problem. To anyone experiencing it, you must go to your motherboard manufacturer’s website, the firmware/downloads section, and update the Intel ME firmware. Theron Wells believes this should fix most, if not all, of the issues the 13th Gen Core CPUs face on older Z690 motherboards. Please do let us know if this works for you.
