Earlier last week, Intel announced that it had purportedly found the primary issue, or “root cause” to its 13th and 14th Gen desktop CPUs crashing more often than they should and that a microcode patch would be issued sometime in the following month. But will it return those affected CPUs to the state before those crashes? The computer says no.
Based on unnamed sources close to Tom’s Hardware, any damage done to the affected 13th and 14th Gen CPUs is irreversible and therefore permanent. A spokesperson approached by The Verge never denied this when asked, while also confirming once more that the elevated voltage issue is merely one of the issues it found.
While the confirmation of permanent damage is distressing, there are bigger concerns at hand: why hasn’t Intel recalled the affected chips, and why is it not extending the warranty? The chipmaker has shut down all prospects of the first with a resounding “No” and hasn’t announced any plans on the latter.
For now, Intel has said that it will be applying its microcode patch to Raptor Lake desktop CPUs that have yet to be shipped, while those that own said CPUs will need to manually apply said patch to the vulnerable processors via the relevant BIOS updates. In the mean time, the chipmaker is advising its users to adhere to its Default Settings whilst ensuring that their motherboards are running on the most up-to-date BIOS as well.
(Source: Tom’s Hardware, The Verge, PC Mag)
