Intel has apparently figured out the “root cause” of the failure of its 13th and 14th Gen Core Raptor Lake processors. The chipmaker believes that “elevated operating voltages” are responsible for the premature demise of the Raptor Lake family of processors. For readers not in touch with the latest PC trends, the 13th and 14th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs are a slight variation of the 12th Gen Alder Lake processors with increased L2 cache per core and higher boost clocks.
Based on extensive analysis of Intel Core 13th/14th Gen desktop processors returned to us due to instability issues, we have determined that elevated operating voltage is causing instability issues in some 13th/14th Gen desktop processors. Our analysis of returned processors confirms that the elevated operating voltage is stemming from a microcode algorithm resulting in incorrect voltage requests to the processor.
Intel is delivering a microcode patch which addresses the root cause of exposure to elevated voltages. We are continuing validation to ensure that scenarios of instability reported to Intel regarding its Core 13th/14th Gen desktop processors are addressed. Intel is currently targeting mid-August for patch release to partners following full validation.
Intel is committed to making this right with our customers, and we continue asking any customers currently experiencing instability issues on their Intel Core 13th/14th Gen desktop processors reach out to Intel Customer Support for further assistance.
Intel states that a microcode algorithm causes the higher (incorrect) voltage requests to the processor. The chipmaker plans to release a BIOS update by mid-August this year to address the crashing and video memory-shortage issues. No other detail has been provided on this bug that affects at least 20% of Raptor Lake systems, client and workstations alike. Our previous coverage of this issue is as follows:
- Intel 13th/14th Gen Issues: Manufacturing Defect Causing Oxidation at Fault?
- Intel 13th/14th Gen Raptor Lake Laptop CPUs Crashing in Games as Well.
- Will Intel Recall the i9-13900K/14900K CPUs? More & More Chips Face Crashing in Games.
- Intel 13th/14th Gen CPUs have a ~100% Failure Rate? Decay Gradually & Start Crashing.
- After 3 Faulty CPUs & 2 RMAs, Intel Refuses to Refund a Crashing 13900K, Less than a Month Old.
- Intel i9-13900K/14900K Highly Unstable in The First Descendant: Crashes Every 5 Mins
- PC Gamers are Switching to AMD Ryzen as Intel 13900K/14900K Chips Continue to Crash & Fail
