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Battlefield 2042 BSOD fix (Z490-P & Z790-P Motherboards)
By Kylestyle147
If you’re getting random BSODs (Blue Screen of Death) while loading into a match, just after spawning, or even after playing a couple of matches in Battlefield 2042 or the Battlefield 6 beta, you’re not alone. Like me, I bet you can play any other game, maxed out fine for many hours without so much as a stutter. But EA/DICE battlefield games BSOD frequently.

This has been a known issue for people running ASUS Prime Z490-P or ASUS Prime Z790-P motherboards, especially with Intel 10th and 13th Gen CPUs.

I’ve been troubleshooting this for months in Battlefield 2042 and the exact same thing started happening in the BF6 Beta. After a ton of testing, discussion with other players, and experimenting with fixes, I’ve finally found a solution that stops the BSODs completely (or reduces them to the point of being stable for hours).

I tried to contact EA/DICE months ago to investigate, multiple times via multiple channels and have been ignored. So I eventually found my own fix.

*Whilst this is a fix for ASUS motherboards, if you have the issue with other brands (which I have seen some people report), this general guide can also help if you just follow the steps for your brand of motherboard.*

(Yes this is a copy and paste of my guide for the BF6 beta guide as its the same issue crashing to BSOD for both games)
   
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Created by
Kylestyle147
Offline
Category: Modding or Configuration, Walkthroughs
Languages: English
Posted
20 Aug @ 2:42pm
13 Unique Visitors
0 Current Favorites
Guide Index
Overview
Symptoms 
The Fix 
Results 
Final Notes 
Comments
Symptoms
BSOD when loading into a match

BSOD within the first few minutes of play

Rare BSOD mid-match after 30–60 minutes

Affected stop codes include:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED

SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION

VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE (nvlddmkm.sys)

Other demanding games (Cyberpunk 2077, Starfield, Darktide, etc.) will run fine — this problem seems specific to Battlefield games on the Frostbite engine (DX12).

(Sorry there are no screenshots, I fixed it and tested it before i realised this was the best fix)
The Fix
The crashes happen because the Intel Management Engine (ME) and your motherboard’s BIOS firmware get out of sync. Don’t worry — you don’t need to know what those are. The fix is simply updating both.

Follow the steps carefully, and your system should stop BSOD’ing in Battlefield.

Step 1 – Update BIOS Firmware (Motherboard Software)

Go to the ASUS Support Page for your exact motherboard model (Z490-P or Z790-P).

Download the latest BIOS file (it will end in .CAP).

Copy that file onto an empty USB stick.

Reboot your PC and as it starts, press Del or F2 repeatedly until the BIOS screen opens (don’t worry if it looks old-school — that’s normal).

Open EZ Flash Utility inside the BIOS menu.

Choose the BIOS file from your USB stick and start the update.

Don’t turn off your PC during this — the screen may go black and restart itself. That’s normal.

After reboot, check the BIOS version to confirm it updated.

Step 2 – Install / Update Intel ME Driver

The ME driver is like a “helper program” your motherboard needs before you can update the firmware.

On the ASUS Support Page for your board, download the Intel ME Driver (it’s under the “Drivers” tab).

Right-click the downloaded file and Extract All into a folder.

Close all programs (Steam, Discord, browsers, etc.) — this makes sure nothing interrupts the install.

Open the folder, find the installer (.exe), and run it.

When it finishes, reboot your PC.

Step 3 – Update Intel ME Firmware

This updates the “hidden controller” on your motherboard.

Go back to the ASUS Support Page and download the Intel ME Firmware Update Tool (it might be bundled with the driver you just installed).

Close everything again (Steam, Discord, iCUE, browsers, etc.).

Right-click → Run as Administrator on the firmware update tool.

Wait — the update may look like it’s doing nothing for a few minutes. Don’t worry, that’s normal.

When it finishes, reboot your PC.

That’s it!
Once both BIOS and Intel ME are updated, the BSODs when loading Battlefield 2042/Battlefield 6 should stop (or at least be massively reduced).

Tip: If you’ve never updated BIOS before, don’t panic. It looks scarier than it is — just don’t power off your PC while it’s running.
Results
After doing this:

I can now play Battlefield 6 beta and Battlefield 2042 for hours with zero BSODs.

Dozens of other players on Z490-P/Z790-P have confirmed the same fix works.
Final Notes
This is a Battlefield-specific stability problem caused by Frostbite + DX12 hitting ME/firmware hard.

If you only update BIOS but not ME firmware, the issue usually remains.

If you update ME firmware without BIOS, the issue may remain.

You need to do both steps for the fix to stick.

Please share this guide with anyone struggling — the more reports, the more pressure on EA/DICE to acknowledge this problem.