Modder gets an Intel Bartlett Lake CPU to post on a Z790 with an AI-edited BIOS

With a bit of hardware tinkering, a modder in the PC community has managed to get Intel’s latest OEM-only Bartlett Lake CPU somewhat running on a consumer-grade Z790 motherboard. He managed this with nothing but some BIOS tinkering with the help of Claude AI.

To his surprise, he reached the POST screen, which displayed the correct CPU name and proved that, with the right BIOS, Bartlett Lake CPUs could technically run on standard consumer boards. However, the system didn’t make it past the POST screen.

For context, the modder got his hands on a top-of-the-line Intel Core 9-273PQE Bartlett Lake CPU, which launched a few weeks ago for workstations and AI applications. The Bartlett Lake CPU features 12 high-performance cores with 24 threads, operating at a base clock of 3.4 GHz that ramps to 5.9 GHz on a single core or maintains a stable 5.3 GHz across all 12 cores.

The new Bartlett Lake CPU also comes with 36 MB of L3 cache, supports up to 192 GB of DDR5-5600 memory, and uses the LGA1700 socket. Intel never intended to release these CPUs for gaming PCs because boards like the Z790 lack the correct microcode and firmware support. However, one modder managed to pull off the impossible. At least somewhat.

The modder, known as “kryptonfly,” posted on Overclock.net after installing the Bartlett Lake CPU into his Asus Z790 motherboard. After installing the 273PQE CPU, he used Claude AI to help rewrite the BIOS from scratch. 

Somehow, the AI-managed process injected the missing CPU microcode while pulling information from official Asus motherboards that currently support and recognize Bartlett Lake processors in the relatively limited AI and industrial computing space (for CPUs).

A work-in-progress AI-powered modification

In the post, he said, “Almost there! The 273PQE is recognized. Claude edited 100% of the BIOS, no module replacement at all.” He posted images of the American Megatrends BIOS splash screen. Later, he added a follow-up post and stated, “It correctly showed the first BIOS screen… It’s still a black screen if I press F1, but at least the CPU is recognized!”

However, Intel or Asus could patch the loophole with a swift firmware update if they want to, while Kryptonfly is still duking it out with error codes and a stubborn black screen after POST to get the Bartlett Lake CPU running on the Z790 motherboard.