A sizzling potato: Customers with Thirteenth- and 14th-generation Intel desktop processors ought to start checking for BIOS updates from their motherboard suppliers. A brand new microcode replace fixes edge instances that may set off the Vmin Shift glitch that the corporate addressed final yr. These whose CPUs are nonetheless crashing ought to make the most of Intel’s prolonged guarantee for the processors, which stays in impact.
A number of months after Intel seemingly solved a controversial bug affecting Thirteenth- and 14th-generation Raptor Lake desktop processors, the corporate has launched a brand new microcode patch associated to the difficulty. The replace comes after Intel found further uncommon situations that would crash the CPUs and trigger everlasting injury.
The not too long ago launched 0x12F microcode patch ought to start showing in BIOS updates from varied motherboard producers within the coming days and weeks. Customers ought to test help pages on motherboard-vendor web sites repeatedly.
Intel launched the brand new patch following reviews of crashes on PCs sitting idle or performing gentle duties repeatedly for a number of days. The crashes are associated to the Vmin Shift bug that affected Raptor Lake and Raptor Lake Refresh processors all through most of 2024.
Following months of investigation, Intel found {that a} mixture of microcode errors, elevated energy settings, and different components induced the CPUs to obtain unsafe voltages. Later named Vmin Shift, the difficulty crashed Thirteenth- and 14th-generation Intel desktop processors rated for 65W or larger when dealing with intense workloads comparable to shader compilation and video encoding.
The 0x125, 0x129, and 0x12B patches Intel launched final summer season largely solved the difficulty. Sadly, the microcode updates can solely stop crashes in items that are not but affected. For the reason that bug causes everlasting injury, CPUs which have begun crashing should be changed.
Fortuitously, Intel prolonged the warranties for the affected processors by two years, so impacted customers can request RMAs. Warranties for the oldest boxed CPUs will seemingly final till a minimum of late 2027 or early 2028. Affected prospects with pre-built PCs ought to test every producer’s web site to find out whether or not their vendor has up to date the guarantee. Customers with Raptor Lake CPUs who have not but utilized 0x12F and have encountered no crashes ought to implement Intel’s beneficial voltage settings and keep away from operating their PCs for a number of days on finish.
Though Intel admitted that 0x12B would possibly trigger minor efficiency degradation in just a few applications, it detected no additional efficiency impression from 0x12F.
