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Following months of complaints and scrutiny, Intel says it’s finally figured out why 13th and 14th Generation Core desktop CPUs are repeatedly crashing.
In a forum post on Monday, Intel said it traced the problem to faulty software code, which can trigger the CPUs to run at higher voltage levels.
Intel examined a number of 13th and 14th gen desktop processors that buyers had returned. “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,” it says.
In other words, Intel says the problem isn’t an inherent hardware defect with the chips, as some had feared. As a result, the company plans on fixing the buggy software with a patch, rather than issuing a product recall.
(Credit: Michael Justin Allen Sexton/PCMag)But in some bad news, Intel still needs a few more weeks to test its fix for the problem. “Intel is currently targeting mid-August for patch release to partners following full validation,” it says.
The company published the update over a week after two game developers uncovered evidence that the 13th and 14th generation desktop chips were crashing at abnormally high levels on both consumer computers and game servers. Alderon Games even went as far as to accuse Intel of allegedly selling “defective” CPUs.
Although Intel’s update on Monday promises a fix, the company’s explanation still may not satisfy everyone. Back in June, Intel initially blamed the CPU crashes on a separate software bug involving the company’s Enhanced Thermal Velocity Boost feature and motherboard settings running the chips at an “elevated voltage input.” However, Alderon Games says Intel’s advice on fixing the issue did nothing to help.
The other issue is that the crashing problem might go beyond Intel’s desktop CPUs. Alderon Games also alleges that laptops built with Intel 13th and 14th gen mobile chips are crashing in the “exact same way.”
“We have seen these crashes on Razer, MSI, Asus Laptops and similar used by developers in our studio to work on the game,” the game studio wrote in a post on Reddit.
However, Intel is pushing back on allegations that the crash bug affects laptop chips. “Intel has determined that mobile products are not exposed to the same issue. The symptoms being reported on 13/14 Gen mobile systems—including system hangs and crashes—are common symptoms stemming from a broad range of potential software and hardware issues,” the company told Tom’s Hardware.
In the meantime, Intel says affected consumers should contact customer support for any required assistance.