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[BigAl01]

I found this news quite interesting.  Glad I only build AMD based systems!

Intel says there is no fix, no recall for its problematic 13th Gen and 14th Gen Core CPUs, with any damage to the processor being permanent. 

Oh... well, Intel's issues with its 13th Gen and 14th Gen Core CPUs goes from bad to worse, with the company admitting that there is no fix coming, and that there is no recall for its crashing CPUs to The Verge.

Any degradation to the processors is irreversible, with an Intel spokesperson not denying that fact when asked by The Verge. Intel said that it is "confident" that the coming patch will keep it from happening in the first place, but if your defective CPU has been damaged, there is no method to reverse it... all you can do is tweak some BIOS settings to get around the issues.

Intel confirmed that high voltages aren't the only reason its 13th Gen and 14th Gen Core CPUs are crashing, and that Team Blue is still investigating the issue. Intel isn't stopping any of the inventory of its affected CPUs from getting out of its doors, and the company wouldn't share just how many chips would be irreversible damaged, nor did Intel explain why it's continuing to sell these chips ahead of any fixes coming.

The Verge reports that Intel isn't telling anyone how warranty replacements will work beyond trying customer support again if you've been rejected, and it didn't explain how it will contact affected customers with these chips to warm them about the issue. It sounds like Intel is TRYING to actively have its customers not buy their CPUs and to move to competitor AMD and its upcoming Zen 5-based Ryzen 9000 series CPUs.

What did Intel actually say? Well, the company did confirm that the issues is far broader than anyone thought it was, affecting 13th Gen and 14th Gen Core CPUs at 65W power levels, not just the higher-end Core i9 processors that seemed to have been impacted by issues.

Intel told The Verge that the following CPUs have issues: 13th Gen and 14th Gen Core CPUs with 65W or higher base power, including K, KF, and KS as well as 65W non-K variants "could be affected by the elevated voltages issue". The company adds that "however, this does not mean that all processors listed are (or will be) impacted by the elevated voltages issues".

When asked if Intel would issue a recall, the company simply replied "No".

When asked if Intel will proactively warn buyers of the affected chips about the warning signs, or that an update is required? Intel replied: "Intel targets to release a production microcode update to OEM/ODM customers by mid-August or sooner and will share additional details on the microcode patch at that time. Intel is investigating options to easily identify affected processors on end-user systems. In the interim, as a general best practice Intel recommends that users adhere to Intel Default Settings on their desktop processors, along with ensuring their BIOS is up to date".

The Verge asked if Intel had halted sales or performed channel inventory recalls while it validates the update? Intel's reply?  "No".

Time to switch to the AMD 9000 series?

[ajlueke]

Interesting.  Was there any news documenting how widespread the issue is?

[BigAl01]

From an Intel employee a few months ago:

Intel is aware of reports regarding Intel Core 13th and 14th Gen unlocked desktop processors experiencing issues with certain workloads. We’re engaged with our partners and are conducting analysis of the reported issues.

If you are experiencing these issues, please reach out to Intel Customer Support for further assistance in the interim.

[johnnyenglish]

I was going to post something but was kind of hesitating.

I'm starting to see some real life big corporate implications here if it starts to affect our 13700 based machines.


This could end up not being a shot in the foot but a serious spinal cord injury.

[BigAl01]

Oh, give this a read.  Quite a summation of the issues.

Check out those power consumption bars....

[FunkZ]

It's some relief when you realize in retrospect you chose wisely and dodged a potential bullet. However it is still shocking when a large and established company like Intel makes such a seemingly overwhelming blunder. Intel also announced this week another round of mass layoffs affecting thousands more employees. This news doesn't bode well for future CPU generations or their struggling GPU division, and in the long run can also negatively impact AMD and consumers.

Just a decade ago, while AMD was floundering with their entire FX family of processors, Intel began to churn out generations of CPUs with little uplift over their predecessors other than cost. I went through a 4790K, 6700K and 7700K during that period and other than the adoption of DDR4 there was little practical improvement in performance. Being the obvious market leader with essentially little to no competition led Intel to stagnate innovation.

I hope that Intel resolves these problems and is able to recover quickly, for all PC enthusiasts sake.

[BigAl01]

I hope they find a way to compensate users that are experiencing the blue screens.

[johnnyenglish]

End users are indeed the most vulnerable, for corporate we will just throw them back at Dell/HP

I'm more worried that we could soon face a flood of computers BSOD'ing everywhere, well... more than we currently see.

Intel as corporate computers go its a dud. Some people prefer BYOD just to get AMD. They just stay afloat as market share goes because of big long lasting contracts and sometimes.... shady business.

[BigAl01]

I just read on Facebook that Intel has extended the warranty for the 13th and 14th generations of their processors by 2 years.  All well and fine if you can actually get a replacement (and with one that doesn't suffer the same problems).

[sapsinoi]

Haste spoils the job.

Greed as well.

I don't know what Intel is doing with the warranty extension after the stock market crash.

A comeback is possible, but it will be long and painful, both for Intel and for ordinary consumers.

I say this because I experienced this with AMD and waited a while until things got fixed.

Competition helps progress, lack of it, not.

[mengelag]

Loyal AMD CPU Fanboy here!!

[roundleafbirch]

Wow, that's quite a story. I feel bad for people who are affected by this, hopefully Intel can sort it out and make things right for them.