What you need to know
- Intel announced plans to extend 13th Gen “Raptor Lake” and 14th Gen “Raptor Lake Refresh” warranties by two years amid a microcode issue causing the chips to degrade.
- The Abington Cole + Ellery law firm began a class action lawsuit investigation involving the CPU issues and Intel’s handling of the matter.
- Since 2022, users of the affected CPUs have experienced frequent crashes and BSODs, with Intel only confirming the issue and root cause this week.
- The microcode bug can affect any 13th and 14th Gen desktop chips running at 65W or higher.
As a tech enthusiast with decades of experience under my belt, I must say that Intel’s current predicament is nothing short of a rollercoaster ride. It’s not every day that we witness such a titan of the industry grappling with issues on multiple fronts.
As an analyst, I’m observing a significant escalation of issues facing Intel. Not long after the company disclosed on their community forum that the instability in the 13th Gen “Raptor Lake” and 14th Gen “Raptor Lake Refresh” desktop processors (CPUs) was more prevalent than initially believed, a class action lawsuit investigation has been initiated by Abington Cole + Ellery law firm.
A law office situated in Tulsa, Oklahoma, specializing in class action suits, is now collecting stories from individuals encountering problems with Raptor Lake processors, to potentially pursue legal action.
In an effort to curb some of the issues, Intel’s Thomas Hannaford posted a notice on the Intel Community forum on August 1 about the warranties for the 13th and 14th Generation Cores.
As a researcher working with Intel, I want to assure all of our customers who have encountered instability issues with their 13th and 14th Gen desktop processors that we are dedicated to providing support during the exchange process. We take pride in our products and believe in their quality, which is why, in the near future, we will be disclosing more details about a special two-year extended warranty support offer for our boxed Intel Core 13th and 14th Gen desktop processors.
In the same message, Hannaford emphasized that individuals who bought a packaged CPU or obtained systems from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)/System Integrators should contact Intel’s customer service for the former and the system manufacturer’s support for the latter, in order to go through the Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) process.
Regardless of the method you used to obtain a defective chip, it seems that you are protected. However, it’s unfortunate that substantial harm has already occurred to the company’s reputation.
Have a faulty Intel chip? You can contribute to the class action lawsuit investigation.
According to Tom’s Hardware, the Abington Cole + Ellery company is collecting data from individuals experiencing problems with the stability issues of Intel’s Raptor Lake and Raptor Lake Refresh processors.
Intel has found the underlying issue – a microcode flaw causing CPUs to consume excess power, resulting in performance degradation that triggers system crashes and blue screens – and anticipates releasing a fix through motherboard BIOS updates around mid-August.
As a researcher delving into this matter, I can confirm that Intel’s latest revelation suggests a broader scope of impact than initially thought. The issue at hand might potentially affect a wider range of desktop CPUs across the 13th and 14th generations, particularly those drawing 65W or more power. Regrettably, it appears that the microcode fix may not be effective for CPUs already experiencing problems.
Intel appears committed to swapping out defective CPUs under warranty, as evidenced by numerous content customers reporting successful replacements. The newly announced extended warranty coverage also promises to boost consumer confidence.
From the opposite side, Intel seemed to delay acknowledging the issue, an action that might have warranted a complete product recall. It was this inaction that sparked the initiation of the class action lawsuit.
As it reads on the Abington Law website where you can submit evidence:
“Lately, there have been concerns about stability problems with Intel’s 13th and 14th Generation Core desktop processors. The main source of these instabilities seems to be excessively high operating voltages. Upon investigation, it was found that a microcode algorithm was mistakenly requesting higher voltages, causing processor instability. It appears this problem is unrelated to the earlier resolved issue of via oxidation in Intel’s manufacturing process.”
Reports indicate that the instability issue impacting Intel’s 13th and 14th Generation Core desktop processors may extend to all CPUs with a power consumption of 65W or more, which encompasses variants like KS, K, KF, as well as non-K models with 65W (or higher) consumption.
As a long-time user of Intel processors, I have faced my fair share of technical issues over the years. The recent problem with voltage requests causing instability has been particularly frustrating, but it looks like Intel is taking steps to address it. They’ve announced that they will be releasing a microcode patch to correct the issue, and it’s scheduled for release to partners by mid-August 2024. In the meantime, I recommend affected users reach out to customer support for assistance, as the company continues to validate the patch and make updates. While it may feel like an eternity to wait for a solution, I have learned over the years that these things take time, and patience is key in dealing with hardware issues. I’m hopeful that Intel will continue to address instability scenarios and ensure their products are reliable for all of us who rely on them every day.
The outcome of the class action lawsuit is uncertain for now, but it’s clear that the ongoing investigation is adding to the company’s reputation troubles.
Intel announces massive layoffs as a cost-saving measure
On August 1st, Intel disclosed that they would be letting go of approximately 15,000 employees. This is not a mistake, and my sympathies are with those impacted. The layoffs aren’t directly due to ongoing instability issues, but the disappointment of affected customers certainly isn’t making it easier for the company to regain momentum.
According to a connected document, Intel’s CEO, Pat Gelsinger, attributed the cost reductions to missing projected growth, failing to seize emerging opportunities such as artificial intelligence, and encountering substantial hurdles in the Intel Foundry sector.
Here’s what Gelsinger had to say on the matter:
“Our revenues haven’t increased as anticipated, and we haven’t fully capitalized on emerging trends such as AI. Our expenses are excessive, and our profit margins are thin. To address these issues, particularly considering our revised financial projections for the second half of 2024, which are more challenging than initially thought, we need to take bolder steps.”
At the time of writing, Intel’s pre-market share price is down 7% after falling out overnight.
It’s AMD’s time to shine with Zen 5
Recently, AMD has encountered a minor setback, as they have postponed the release of their Ryzen 9000 desktop CPUs to no earlier than August 8, 2024.
As a tech enthusiast, I’ve encountered an unexpected issue with the release of some AMD processors. According to Jack Huynh, AMD’s SVP and GM of Computing and Graphics, there was a delay due to these processors not meeting our full quality expectations. It turns out that a few chips, initially labeled as Ryzen 9, were actually lower-tier models mistakenly labeled.
After correcting the confusion and the imminent arrival of the Zen 5 processors, AMD stands poised to take advantage of Intel’s unstable position by launching a powerful Ryzen 9000 series effectively.
Currently, we’ve received a set of Ryzen 9000 processors for evaluation, complete with appropriate labeling. Once the review embargo is lifted, we’ll make sure to share our insights about these chips with you.
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2024-08-02 17:10