> I'd wager good money on the latter.
Don't guess, measure! The proper action here would be to change BIOS settings from their default / "auto" settings to per-Intel-spec safe ones. Same for RAM, and on systems with known good power supplies, CPU cooling, software installs etc. Then one of the following will happen:
a) BIOS ignores user settings & problem persists.
b) BIOS applies user settings & problem goes away.
c) BIOS applies user settings but problem persists.
Cases a & b count as "faulty BIOS" (motherboard manufacturer caused). Case c counts as "faulty CPU", and replacement cpu may or may not fix that.
No need to guess. Just do the legwork on systems where problem occurs & power supply, RAM, CPU cooling & OS install can be ruled out. Sadly, no doubt there's many systems out there where that last condition doesn't hold.
Don't guess, measure! The proper action here would be to change BIOS settings from their default / "auto" settings to per-Intel-spec safe ones. Same for RAM, and on systems with known good power supplies, CPU cooling, software installs etc. Then one of the following will happen:
a) BIOS ignores user settings & problem persists.
b) BIOS applies user settings & problem goes away.
c) BIOS applies user settings but problem persists.
Cases a & b count as "faulty BIOS" (motherboard manufacturer caused). Case c counts as "faulty CPU", and replacement cpu may or may not fix that.
No need to guess. Just do the legwork on systems where problem occurs & power supply, RAM, CPU cooling & OS install can be ruled out. Sadly, no doubt there's many systems out there where that last condition doesn't hold.