(Michael Justin Allen Sexton/PCMag)
Intel is finally revealing which 13th and 14th Generation Core desktop processors are affected by a crash bug that can permanently degrade them.
The company has published a full list of the chips that’ll receive an extra two years of warranty protection over the existing three. It signals that the CPU crash bug can appear in the most powerful processors in the 13th and 14th Generation line, from the i9-13900KS and i9-14900KS down to the mid-tier i5-13600K and i5-14600K chips.
(Credit: Intel)The company is also promising to do a better job fielding users' requests to replace their affected CPUs after some consumers complained about Intel rejecting their warranty requests.
"If customers have experienced these instability symptoms on their 13th and/or 14th Gen desktop processors but were unsuccessful in prior RMAs [return merchandise authorizations], we ask that they reach out to Intel Customer Support for further assistance and remediation,” the company says.
In addition, Intel has confirmed it’ll also extend the warranty for affected Intel chips sold as "tray CPUs," which are often packed inside prebuilt PCs. That said, the company is telling customers to contact the vendor who sold the tray CPU rather than Intel to receive a replacement unit.
Intel has received a barrage of criticism for its handling of the CPU crash bug — a problem that’s been lingering in the processors possibly as far back as December 2022, according to one law firm investigating a possible class-action suit against the company.
It was only last month that Intel fully traced the problem to a software bug, which can trigger affected CPUs to run at a higher voltage. Criticism then intensified after Intel conceded that the chip bug could also permanently degrade an affected processor. But rather than issue a recall, Intel plans on triaging the problem through its customer support channel, forcing owners to proactively ask for assistance.
In its defense, Intel has pledged to replace affected CPUs with fresh ones. Later this month, the company also plans on releasing a software patch to prevent the crash bug. “Warranty extension applies to new & previously purchased processors, if they are one of the Intel Core 13th/14th Gen SKUs listed above,” the company added in its latest post. “This warranty coverage applies to all customers globally.”