This could be a fix for Fatal Error o_o (Intel CPUs)

[K4iZEN]

So I installed the game just yesterday, played roughly for an hour before I had to go off.

Came back today and ran into the UE sandfall game crash

Fatal Error: DecompressShaderWithOodleAndExtraLogging(): Could not decompress shader group with Oodle. Group Index: 1424 Group IoStoreHash: 91edf3ad05faf20180531509 Group NumShaders: 33 Shader Index: 12131 Shader In-group Index: 1424 Shader Hash: 16EA6031EF31FE12C2D80E883C74E813A738ECE9.
The CPU (Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-14900K) may be unstable; for details see bla bla bla

The things I tried so far were:

- deleting the D3D12 folder in \Steam\steamapps\common\Expedition 33\Sandfall\Binaries\Win64 (did nothing for me)

- making sure that my "Performance Core Ratio" with the Intel(R) Extreme Tuning Utility was set to 54x (this fixed like 99% of my games crashing randomly because the i9-14900k CPUs just sucks a55!

- Checking files via Steam for errors (somehow it downloaded two missing files, not sure what they were but the game still didn't work.

(Specs are RTX4090, i9-14900k for any1 wondering)

Tried several other possible fixes but none of them helped but then


I PROBABLY FOUND A FIX FOR THIS CRASH WHILE PLAYING A BIT MORE WITH THE
Intel(R) Extreme Tuning Utility!!!

So the default setting for the Performance Core Ratio for my CPU is at 57x. I lowered it down to 54x and got the game to run again with epic settings, DLSS & DLAA with -dx11 in the start options in steam to force dx11 but this doomed my FPS especially in the City at the beginning running only at 20 FPS max (wth seriously?!)

I then even lowered it to 50x, removed the -dx11 from the start options and now the game is running stable so far without forcing dx11 on epic settings, with DLSS & DLAA and finally stable frames in the city from the beginning with a lot of npcs at a stable 65 ~ 70 FPS mark.

I tried th Performance Core Ratio 53x as well but game keeps crashing again so from my point of view a Performanc Core Ratio from 50x ~ 52x fixed this error for me.

Hope this helps at least one of you! 😭

TL;DR

- Download the Intel(R) Extreme Tuning Utility Tool
- Set the Performance Core Ratio to 50x
- Launch the Game again
- Hopefully profit without any crashes anymore

If the game runs without any crashes again and without setting -dx11 at the start options,
you can try to increase it to 51x, 52x etc until it crashes again.



P.S. Additional advice for those who don't know:
There's a fix for the 30 fps lock in cutscenes which also skips the Intros on GitHub if
you wanna try that out. Makes the game even more enjoyable and can be found here:

https://github.com/Lyall/ClairObscurFix

[Ribzizzle]

Just want to comment here to confirm this solution is legit and the intel tuning utility is something I had to find myself recently because the trash intel 14900 CPUs can cause issues up to not only game crashes, but the failure to install new graphics drivers due to ocr errors.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/17881/intel-extreme-tuning-utility-intel-xtu.html

Thanks for the suggestion to use 50x instead of the 54 I always set it to. Game seems more stable now.

[K4iZEN]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Ribzizzle:

Just want to comment here to confirm this solution is legit and the intel tuning utility is something I had to find myself recently because the trash intel 14900 CPUs can cause issues up to not only game crashes, but the failure to install new graphics drivers due to ocr errors.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/17881/intel-extreme-tuning-utility-intel-xtu.html

Thanks for the suggestion to use 50x instead of the 54 I always set it to. Game seems more stable now.

Thx a lot for the confirmation! Glad that it helped at least someone! :)!

[Valkyrien]

Opprinnelig skrevet av K4iZEN:

So I installed the game just yesterday, played roughly for an hour before I had to go off.

Came back today and ran into the UE sandfall game crash

Fatal Error: DecompressShaderWithOodleAndExtraLogging(): Could not decompress shader group with Oodle. Group Index: 1424 Group IoStoreHash: 91edf3ad05faf20180531509 Group NumShaders: 33 Shader Index: 12131 Shader In-group Index: 1424 Shader Hash: 16EA6031EF31FE12C2D80E883C74E813A738ECE9.
The CPU (Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-14900K) may be unstable; for details see bla bla bla

The things I tried so far were:

- deleting the D3D12 folder in \Steam\steamapps\common\Expedition 33\Sandfall\Binaries\Win64 (did nothing for me)

- making sure that my "Performance Core Ratio" with the Intel(R) Extreme Tuning Utility was set to 54x (this fixed like 99% of my games crashing randomly because the i9-14900k CPUs just sucks a55!

- Checking files via Steam for errors (somehow it downloaded two missing files, not sure what they were but the game still didn't work.

(Specs are RTX4090, i9-14900k for any1 wondering)

Tried several other possible fixes but none of them helped but then


I PROBABLY FOUND A FIX FOR THIS CRASH WHILE PLAYING A BIT MORE WITH THE
Intel(R) Extreme Tuning Utility!!!

So the default setting for the Performance Core Ratio for my CPU is at 57x. I lowered it down to 54x and got the game to run again with epic settings, DLSS & DLAA with -dx11 in the start options in steam to force dx11 but this doomed my FPS especially in the City at the beginning running only at 20 FPS max (wth seriously?!)

I then even lowered it to 50x, removed the -dx11 from the start options and now the game is running stable so far without forcing dx11 on epic settings, with DLSS & DLAA and finally stable frames in the city from the beginning with a lot of npcs at a stable 65 ~ 70 FPS mark.

I tried th Performance Core Ratio 53x as well but game keeps crashing again so from my point of view a Performanc Core Ratio from 50x ~ 52x fixed this error for me.

Hope this helps at least one of you! 😭

TL;DR

- Download the Intel(R) Extreme Tuning Utility Tool
- Set the Performance Core Ratio to 50x
- Launch the Game again
- Hopefully profit without any crashes anymore

If the game runs without any crashes again and without setting -dx11 at the start options,
you can try to increase it to 51x, 52x etc until it crashes again.



P.S. Additional advice for those who don't know:
There's a fix for the 30 fps lock in cutscenes which also skips the Intros on GitHub if
you wanna try that out. Makes the game even more enjoyable and can be found here:

https://github.com/Lyall/ClairObscurFix

Hello,

just making sure before you did all thoses things.

I do have an I9 14900K ( bought it when it came out and issue with blue screen we all know ) and an RTX 4090 just like you, but I dont have any of the issue you are saying.

Wanted to know if you did maybe updated the BIOS recently or not? because I did it and since I have no problem at all in any games.

[Ribzizzle]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Valkyrien:

Hello,

just making sure before you did all thoses things.

I do have an I9 14900K ( bought it when it came out and issue with blue screen we all know ) and an RTX 4090 just like you, but I dont have any of the issue you are saying.

Wanted to know if you did maybe updated the BIOS recently or not? because I did it and since I have no problem at all in any games.

This intel tool should be a kind of last resort if no updating or verifying stops the crashing. If you have no crashing at all, you're good and none of this applies to you. I have alienware's bios which is very likely different from yours, so I unfortunately need this tool to cope with how my PC functions.

[Encleaver]

Had fatal error when tried loading main save. Started new game and no error. Went back to main save and loaded older save and game works fine

[K4iZEN]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Valkyrien:

Hello,

just making sure before you did all thoses things.

I do have an I9 14900K ( bought it when it came out and issue with blue screen we all know ) and an RTX 4090 just like you, but I dont have any of the issue you are saying.

Wanted to know if you did maybe updated the BIOS recently or not? because I did it and since I have no problem at all in any games.

Thx a lot for checking, really appreciate it! Yes, my bios is up2date for almost half a year as far as I remember. I have the Z790 Aorus Master X Mainboard and the latest Bios Version is the F9b. There has been no bios update since then. I'm kind of a kid when it comes to technology so I always hv my stuff up2date and making sure that when I install something (Windows for example), I make sure its a fresh and clean install with nothing unecessary on the M.2 etc.

I also undervolted my i9-14900k because I don't see a point in overclocking except for more BSODs and a lot more of power consumption. I could also set the Performance Core Ratio permanently to 52x in Bios but because i'm lazy for now, i'm just using the tool to do so :/

Opprinnelig skrevet av Encleaver:

Had fatal error when tried loading main save. Started new game and no error. Went back to main save and loaded older save and game works fine

Hmm.. this could also be a solid problem solver which I haven't heard of yet. Unfortunately it wouldn't work for me tho since I get the Fatal Error right when I try to boot up the game so it's impossible for me to even get to the main menu ._.

[KawaiiCoder]

Just want to say that this solution (after hours trying everything else) seemed to have work for me. I'll post an update if the issue reappears. Thanks a bunch OP.

Spec: RTX4090 - i913900K

[Alexia ~]

Thank you, I had exactly the same problem and your fix saved me !!

[Illusion of Progress]

I'm surprised that people aren't using the extended warranty Intel is offering for this very reason the moment they discover their CPU is faulty.

The degradation with those CPUs occurs much sooner when the voltage and clock speed is higher. It's been known for a long time (basically back when the problem with these CPUs was first discovered) that limiting the clock speed can reduce the chances of instability being exposed. Likewise, switching to DirectX 11 sometimes helps because shader compilation is isn't a thing in DirectX11 and therefore it's avoiding the more CPU demanding part that exposes the instability.

But none of those methods are aren't actually fixing the issue; it's just avoiding it by reducing the performance of the product below its advertised stock performance. Once the degradation has set in, the CPU is irreversibly damaged and no longer stable. And it may slowly get worse even if it's limited.

[C1REX]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Illusion of Progress:

I'm surprised that people aren't using the extended warranty Intel is offering for this very reason the moment they discover their CPU is faulty.

I think this is a big challenge for most people. Most people play on a laptop or a prebuild where warranty claim is more complicated. They also need to prove the CPU is faulty what is not always easy. Crashing occasionally in one or two UE5 games? Will ASUS or other big brand accept such claim? Or will they send the PC/Laptop back and charge for postage and diagnosis saying there is no issue detected?

There is no simple test producing clear prove that the CPU is faulty. Also not many people are aware of the problem. We are aware but people like us, reading forums and following hardware YT channels, are a tiny minority of all players. Most people treat their PC as a premium console and expect a game patch if it crashes - obviously, if it's the only one game that crashes and all other games work just fine.

[TheBrokenG0d]

Opprinnelig skrevet av Illusion of Progress:

I'm surprised that people aren't using the extended warranty Intel is offering for this very reason the moment they discover their CPU is faulty..

The Thing is, I just RMAed my i9 13900K and got a new one a few months ago. I never had this many issues other than E33 with the new one. My old CPU constantly BSOD

[Illusion of Progress]

Opprinnelig skrevet av C1REX:

I think this is a big challenge for most people. Most people play on a laptop or a prebuild where warranty claim is more complicated. They also need to prove the CPU is faulty what is not always easy.

Yeah, there's numerous layers here that abstract this. The big one is most users aren't technically inclined so when a game crashes, especially in this day and age of games always being blamed, it's their inclination to blame the game. Especially when "other things work fine".

Crashing is definitely a broad thing and that can have a number of causes, but the whole "if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, well then... you know..." comes to mind. In other words, in the following scenario...

1. It's crashing during shader compilation (or other CPU heavy moments) and/or throwing "out of video memory trying to allocate a rendering resource" errors...

2. The system uses a Raptor Lake CPU, especially higher end models...

3. Stability may be gained by either running in DirectX11 mode or limiting to boost frequency... (typically down to between 50x and 54x)

Then that spells it out.

In that scenario, I'd be pressing for an RMA of either the CPU or PC, depending on how it was purchased. If it was purchased as a complete PC, and if it's beyond the OEM's warranty period then that does complicate it. Especially with a laptop. That's part of why I've been saying all along that Intel should have issued a proactive recall for this, but Intel ran the numbers and found it would be cheaper to not do so.

So instead, we get to spend the next many years watching dozens of Unreal Engine/DirectX 12 game forums where users are blaming the game developers for something that isn't the fault of the game developer at all. Clair Obscur actually seems to be a better example of an Unreal Engine 5 game so it's sad to see the developers get this same old blame thrown at them.

[Illusion of Progress]

Opprinnelig skrevet av TheBrokenG0d:

The Thing is, I just RMAed my i9 13900K and got a new one a few months ago. I never had this many issues other than E33 with the new one. My old CPU constantly BSOD

What issues are you having? not all crashes will be caused by a bad CPU of course, so you need to look at the details of the issues you're having and go from there.

Did you update the BIOS around the time you started using the new CPU? To my understanding, a new CPU won't be degraded so it will work fine at first, but it could begin to degrade if you're not using a newer BIOS/with certain limits.

For clarity on what happens, all CPUs naturally "degrade" over time with use. They work themselves towards a state of electromigration. So what is happening with the higher end Raptor Lake CPUs is the voltage/clock speed, especially during boost, is high enough to accelerate it and cause it to set in within a matter of months or maybe a couple of years. And the instability will first show up when it's boosting high and under heavy stress... such as when compiling shaders. This is why it's mostly the Core i9s and sometimes Core i7s that show it more (they boost higher), and it's why limiting the p-core ratio to 50x or 54x, or using DirectX 11, "fixes" it. The CPU is still damaged but you're avoiding the conditions that push the CPU enough to expose it.

I've read of people going through two or three of these CPUs and having them fail over the course of months, and that sounds concerning to me. But I don't know if those users had the BIOS updates in place.

[comicsinvest]

I have a 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-13700F 2.10 GHz.I downloaded the Intel(R) Extreme Tuning Utility and tryed to lower the Performance Core Ratio from the 51x which is the max according to this program, but the program doesn't let me change this.
How is this possible?

[Revan]

Shader related crashes in UE5 can by a symptome for a degraded CPU when you are using an 13th or 14th gen Intel CPU. Your fix might lessen the symptoms, but you should probably check your CPU for degradation if you not just got frequent, "shader"-related UE5 crashes, but also learned that lowering the performance core ratio "fixes" the issue.

It's possible that this is just a temporary fix and that you might still run into this issue with other UE5 games in the future. Once UE5 throws out these shader related error messages with certain Intel CPU's, chances are high that these CPU's are defective. UE5 requires a stable CPU and those two generations of Intel CPU's tend to degrade extremely fast if they were installed before summer 2024 or if they were in use without updating to your latest BIOS version since summer 2024.

Intel really screwed up twice in a row with their CPU's. My i9 14900K did run into the same issue and turned out to be degraded after being in use for like a year. That thing was unrecoverable at this point, there was too much damage, because Intel seemingly loves to create CPU units that just take in waaaay more voltage than they should for some reason.