Intel Discovers Issue Causing Irreversible Processor Degradation
For several months, Intel has been investigating reports that its 13th and 14th generation processors—specifically the Core i9-13900K and 14900K—experience failures under certain workloads, particularly during gaming. It has now been announced that an updated microcode to address the issue will be provided to motherboard manufacturers in mid-August.
Background of the Problem
The first reports of strange failures affecting Intel’s Core i9-13900K and i9-14900K desktop processors during gaming surfaced in the media in April of this year. These failures were observed even in relatively undemanding games such as Fortnite, as well as in titles like Hogwarts Legacy, Remnant 2, Alan Wake 2, Horizon: Zero Dawn, The Last of Us Part 1, and Outpost: Infinity Siege.
Related processors, including the i9-13900KF, i9-14900KF, i9-13900KS, and i9-14900KS, were also reportedly affected. Some users also experienced issues with the i7-13700K and i7-14700K series.
Intel’s Investigation and Findings
“Intel is aware of reports that unlocked 13th and 14th Gen Intel Core processors are experiencing issues under certain workloads. We are working with our partners to analyze these reports,” the company stated at the time.
Later, Intel suggested that the root cause might be motherboard manufacturers allowing increased power limits and disabling protective features to boost processor performance. “While the root cause has not yet been determined, Intel has observed that most reports of this issue come from users with motherboards that support unlocking/overclocking,” developers noted. “In Intel’s observations, BIOS settings on 600/700 series chipset boards often default to disabling thermal and power protections designed to safeguard processors from prolonged exposure to high voltage and frequencies.”
Problematic Settings Identified
Intel identified several settings that could contribute to the issue:
- Disabling Current Excursion Protection (CEP)
- Enabling IccMax Unlimited bit
- Disabling Thermal Velocity Boost (TVB) or Enhanced Thermal Velocity Boost (eTVB)
- Disabling C-states
- Using Windows Ultimate Performance mode
- Raising PL1 and PL2 beyond Intel’s recommended limits
As a result, Intel recommended that motherboard manufacturers release BIOS updates and use the recommended default values.
Upcoming Fix and Its Limitations
This week, Intel announced that it has completed its investigation. The microcode update to fix the issue is expected to be sent to motherboard manufacturers in mid-August, following testing. The patch will be distributed as a BIOS update from motherboard OEMs and through Windows updates.
While Intel has not yet disclosed full details, the company stated that analysis of affected processors revealed that “increased operating voltage [leading to failures] is related to a microcode algorithm that causes incorrect voltage requests to the processor.” In other words, the processor requests and receives too much power, causing it to operate outside safe limits and, over time, lose stability.
According to Tom’s Hardware, these problems “cause irreversible degradation of the processors,” meaning the upcoming fix unfortunately cannot reverse any damage already done. Intel will continue to replace processors that are already exhibiting abnormal behavior. Users who have already experienced failures are advised to contact customer support.
It is also noted that the upcoming microcode update should not affect CPU performance.