Serious problems in Intel's thirteenth and fourteenth generation processors – what was the company's response?

The PC community has been deeply concerned by dozens of reports circulating online recently about serious issues with PC-based systems Intel core Healer 13^Ha generation (Raptor Lake) and 14^Ha generation (Raptor Lake Update). In particular, many owners report that their systems are unstable and experience frequent crashes.

Intel has now broken its silence and finally explained what's going on. Specifically, medium Igor's laboratory I was able to see a letter sent from the tech giant to motherboard manufacturers, which Intel is dropping the ball on. It seems that an informal rivalry between motherboard makers has begun to develop as to which company will offer the fastest platform, resulting in the default BIOS settings being too aggressive to run CPUs at higher voltages.

Intel points out that many companies have begun disabling thermal protection to achieve the highest possible speed, even at the cost of instability. Already, of course, many manufacturers have begun to make concessions, after Intel noticed. For example, ASUS' latest BIOS includes a more conservative “Intel Baseline Profile” that makes systems more stable, while Gigabyte has also started testing something similar in its latest beta BIOS builds.

Below you can find Intel's message that wants to clarify the scene.

Intel's official position:

Intel notes that this issue may be related to substandard operating conditions that result in sustained voltage and frequency spikes during periods of increased heat.

Analysis of affected processors indicates that some components exhibit changes in minimum operating voltage, which may be related to operation outside Intel specified operating conditions.

Although the root cause has not yet been determined, Intel has noted that the majority of reports of this issue are coming from users with overclockable motherboards.

Intel notes that motherboards with 600/700 series chipsets often set default BIOS settings to disable thermal and power supply protections designed to limit processor exposure to prolonged periods of high voltage and frequency, for example:

– Disable current trip protection (CEP)

– Enable unlimited IccMax bits

– Disable Thermal Speed ​​Boost (TVB) and/or Enhanced Thermal Speed ​​Boost (eTVB)

Additional settings that may increase the risk of system instability:

– Disable C states

– Use Windows Ultimate Performance mode

– Increase PL1 and PL2 beyond Intel® recommended limits

Intel requires system and motherboard manufacturers to provide end users with a default BIOS profile that matches Intel's recommended settings.

Intel strongly recommends that the customer's default BIOS settings ensure operation within Intel's recommended settings.

Additionally, Intel recommends that motherboard manufacturers implement warnings for end users to warn them of any unsecured use or overclocking.

Intel continues to actively investigate this issue to determine the root cause and will provide additional updates as relevant information becomes available.

Intel will release a public statement regarding the issue status and Intel recommended BIOS settings in May 2024.