Intel Core 13th and 14th Gen Desktop Instability Root Cause Update

Will Intel be releasing a tool to help customers identify if their processors are affected (have degraded)?

@reupen  It´s already exists a tool for that purpose

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/15951/intel-processor-diagnostic-tool.html

Intel created this issue by allowing eTVB to be overly aggressive and giving free reign to board partners like ASUS who contributed to rapid degradation of the cpus in question. My 13900K failed within a year and I'm sure there's millions more out there that will never figure out why their PC is failing when the blame lies squarely on Intel. There's also the loss of time and productivity when people have to troubleshoot their failing PCs. 

I won't be surprised to see a class action suit over this. 

No fixes for C-states bug? Idle voltage of the 14900k would go from 1.35v to 1.48v if C-states is being turned off…

Is the i5-14500 affected? 
Previous microcode updates did not affect the i5-14500. But this one says for all 13th and 14th gen.

Yeah, same here. I'm running an i5-13400F and I have a fully up to date BIOS and my microcode update is 0x35.

I've read the update about the Vmin Shift Instability issue for Intel Core 13th and 14th Gen Desktop processors. I have a few concerns and questions:

1. I'm using an ASUS motherboard with my Intel processor 14900KS.
2. The 0x12B microcode update, which is supposed to fully address the issue, hasn't been released by ASUS yet for my board.
3. I have applied the 0x129 microcode update, which partially addresses the problem.

Given this situation, I'm wondering: Is it safe to continue using my system for regular tasks while waiting for ASUS to release the 0x12B update? I'm concerned about potential degradation during this interim period.

Dear Intel Team,

thanks for providing us with constant updates. I have recently received my replacement for my 13900kf because of instability issues. I bought this Processor to OC and undervolt. After all the microcode adaptations you have implemented, are the previous settings you suggested for stable operations still up to date?

In your post, you mentioned that you found the root cause of the stability issues and mitigated with 0x12B. Do I understand correctly that the stability issues are fully mitigated with my next BIOS update or can stability issues still occur when using the recommended settings?

Thanks the clarification!

Cheers

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@Thomas_Hannaford wrote:

1. Motherboard power delivery settings exceeding Intel power guidance. 
   a.  Mitigation: Intel® Default Settings recommendations for Intel® Core™ 13th and 14th Gen desktop processors.

These Intel® Default Settings recommendations?

https://community.intel.com/t5/Processors/June-2024-Guidance-regarding-Intel-Core-13th-and-14th-Gen-K-KF/m-p/1607807

I see baseline, performance, and extreme. Which settings should be applied?

So the root cause IS a hardware issue. Why hasn't a recall been done? Stop selling faulty hardware with mitigations. 

I read your whole article thanks for this update. I am glad that intel has found the root cause.

Could you please confirm if this new code 0x12B is mitigation or permanent patch? This is very important for us.

Because mitigation is totally different than the patch. Mitigation looks intel has reduced the negative effect of high voltage. But still there are chances.

Because other generation processors are not vulnerable. There must be a final patch not mitigation. Otherwise RMA or replaced processors future is uncertain.

Are the processors safe to use with the 0x125 and 0x129 updates but without the 0x12b update? What defines " ...periods of idle and/or light activity." And what specific conditions cause this?

It is not entirely clear from the post if further damage to the processor is possible without the 0x12b update.

It's also a little confusing, because 0x129 states "microcode 0x129 (August 2024) addresses high voltages requested by the processor." which reads to encompass all high voltage requests. Yet 0x12b states the same at specific conditions. 

I am super curious what this new microcode 0x12b will do.

I am on 0x129 and still getting high temps playing games for 15 mins. I even undervolted my 14700K by 0.01v and still getting 95 deg c. Is 0x12b really going to help or just another show? I am getting sick of this.

I am so frustrated and unhappy with the issue with my i7 14th gen. Had my computer upgraded December last year and have had it back to repairer at least 8 times (or more). I use Lightroom and Photoshop and it is absolutely useless. Shuts down whenever, goes so slow it is useless. Intel should be helping their customers after all this time.  It has now been sent back to Intel to await further investagation. Without a computer yet again....... 

Are we sure this issue doesn't affect 13 and 14th gen laptop processors (e.g. i9-13900h) ?

My sister-in-law reported that her computer is unstable when it's running in performance mode + the CPU reaches extremely high temperatures in this mode.

Earlier this month my game crashes were getting so bad I couldn't even load into the game menus, at least on certain AAA games such as Red Dead Redemption II. Errors received where random in nature but usually memory access related. Even the Nvidia drivers wouldn't update. This all happening even with the power limits set to Intel specs in BIOS for i9-14900k and installed the 0x125 and 0x129 microcode updates.

It wasn't until I disabled Intel Turbo Boost and Intel Turbo Boost V3 that I was able to play the games again. It was like magic, as they all of a sudden started working again. I didn't have any crashes, was able to update graphic drivers etc etc. Ran like that for two weeks without any issues.

I heard about the latest microcode update so I installed it, set BIOS to default values (Gigabyte Z790 UD AX). I ran a few benchmarks which seemed to limit the CPU temperature a bit better -- didn't hit the report limit, 100c, and stay there -- with it bouncing between 95c and 97c which is still ridiculous. Was able to load games and play so I played for a few minutes, went to exit the game and CRASH!. After that, game was unable to load into menu. It seems this latest microcode update has not solved anything.

Long story short, Intel should recall this entire line of processors. I have been a dedicated fan of Intel for decades as I had one bad experience with AMD in the past and this situation is so much worse. These processors are expensive and I went all out for the power/performance which I can not have because it relies on Turbo Boost. They market these processors with the highest numbers achievable at a supposedly stable performance, but this time, it is just not happening. Therefore, they are defective and not suited for purpose and deserve to be recalled/refunded.

A true indication of a company's ethics is how they respond when something goes wrong with their product!

@loofitheboss 

I'm not too sure about this tool achieving what you think it will. In my experience it did not highlight any issues.

With my first i9-14900k (RMA'd), I had extensive BSOD, App crashes, crash on running Intel Extreme Tuning Utility's benchmark feature, the Intel Processor Diagnostic tool did not pinpoint any issues.

I had narrowed the processor issue down to two bad cores by disabling them in BIOS. Once the trouble cores where disabled, I was able to run the benchmark in Intel Extreme Tuning Utility.

If this application can't detect a bad core, how would it be able to determine a degraded processor? Unfortunate for me, my replacement process suffers from the issues everyone else is having with high temperatures/app crashes/random misbehaving but I haven't found a reliable test case to troubleshoot. The closest I have come was described in my other post with a completely unusable game until I disabled Intel Turbo Boost.

For those people whose device failed already, what action are we taking? 

My Zenbook Oled Ux3402Z failed, and it suddenly stopped turning on. It had i7-13700H cpu. What should i do?

bonjour ce n est pas clair, après la maj bios 0x12B avec un 14900ks :

Peut on règler iccmax à 400A et pl1/pl2 320w ?

ou est le tableau définitif des règlages bios safe et préconisés par intel après la maj bios 0x12B ??