Intel denies root cause for CPU instability, still investigating

Intel has denied a recent news report that it has gotten to the bottom of instability issues with some 13th and 14th Gen desktop CPUs, and continues to search for the “root cause.”

“Contrary to recent media reports, Intel has not confirmed the root cause and is continuing, with its partners, to investigate user reports regarding instability issues on unlocked Intel Core 13th and 14th generation (K/KF/KS) desktop processors,” an Intel spokesman told PCWorld on Friday afternoon. “The microcode patch referenced in press reports fixes an eTVB bug discovered by Intel while investigating the instability reports. While this issue is potentially contributing to instability, it is not the root cause.”

The report Intel is referring to comes from Igor Wallosek of Igorslab.de, who said he had obtained an internal statement indicating that the root cause was an incorrect value in the microcode algorithm associated with the chip’s enhanced Thermal Velocity Boost (eTVB) feature.

eTVB partially to blame

The eTVB feature opportunistically boosts the clock speed of some 13th and 14th Gen desktop chips if the chip senses the thermal headroom is available.

Wallosek said he obtained the internal statement from a source, which apparently required a non-disclosure agreement from the originator.

“Failure Analysis (FA) of 13th and 14th Generation K SKU processors indicates a shift in minimum operating voltage on affected processors resulting from cumulative exposure to elevated core voltages,” Wallosek wrote. “Intel analysis has determined a confirmed contributing factor for this issue is elevated voltage input to the processor due to previous BIOS settings which allow the processor to operate at turbo frequencies and voltages even while the processor is at a high temperature.”

Wallosek’s report continues: “Previous generations of Intel K SKU processors were less sensitive to these type of settings due to lower default operating voltage and frequency. Intel requests all customers to update BIOS to microcode 0x125 or later by 7/19/2024. This microcode includes an eTVB fix for an issue which may allow the processor to enter a higher performance state even when the processor temperature has exceeded eTVB thresholds.”

For non-nerds, here’s what that means: the eTVB bug may be contributing to instability on the highest-end 13th and 14th Gen chips, but unfortunately it isn’t the main cause of some consumers’ issues.

Slipped deadlines, investigation continues

Intel had hoped to have more information on the vexing instability issue by the end of May, but obviously that deadline has slipped.

Intel hasn’t provided any additional forecasts of when it would have more information, but those impacted are likely to be growing impatient by now—and that includes consumers who own the CPUs as well as Intel’s own partners.

Some owners of unlocked, high-performance 13th and 14th Gen “K” series CPUs have reported bewildering stability issues for months, but the problem kicked into high gear when Nvidia said those with game crashes should bother Intel instead.

Popular hardware reviewers Hardware Unboxed published a video at Computex where motherboard partners expressed frustration at the lack of insight into the issue. It hasn’t helped motherboard makers’ reputations, who initially published updated BIOSes only to have to yank them after complaints that they either reduced performance too much or didn’t actually correct the amount of voltage being fed to chips.

Update your BIOS

Meanwhile, system integrator Falcon Northwest posted an update to X (formerly Twitter) that said it has tested an Asus BIOS released on May 31 that it believes is fully compliant with Intel’s baseline recommendations and that Falcon Northwest believes “should prevent CPU wear and may stabilize CPUs while still offering good performance.”

“We recommend this BIOS update,” Falcon Northwest wrote.

Senior Editor Mark Hachman contributed to this report.