In the past two months, I wrote a lot about the instability and crashes of Intel’s 13th and 14th generation Core processors. At the end of those articles, I made a prediction and a promise to the readers: Intel would release an official investigation report and solution by the end of May.
During this period, I have been closely following the developments and planned to share the official announcement from Intel as soon as it was released. However, unfortunately, Intel did not release the investigation report as scheduled, and now it’s already mid-June, leaving me feeling quite helpless.
At this point, some readers might speculate: since I am bringing up this topic again, has Intel now released the final investigation report that I want to share?
The answer is no. Intel still has not released the final investigation report, but there has been significant progress on this issue. According to reports, Intel has now identified the root cause of the problem.
The root cause lies in incorrect microcode values related to the eTVB function. With this bug present, increasing the operating frequency and voltage at high temperatures may lead to reliability issues with the processor.
“eTVB” stands for “Enhanced Thermal Velocity Boost,” a feature that allows the processor to automatically increase its operating frequency when the temperature is below the maximum critical threshold, thereby improving overall performance. This is particularly useful for workloads that require intensive computation over a short period, such as gaming.
Unfortunately, due to incorrect parameter values within the eTVB function, it did not operate as designed and expected by Intel, leading to excessively high operating frequencies and resulting in stability issues.
It is reported that Intel has now notified and required all motherboard partners to update the BIOS to microcode version 0x125 or higher by July 19, 2024. This microcode includes the eTVB fix.
Supplementary note: The above content is not from Intel’s official, publicly released materials but from a leak by a third-party institution closely collaborating with Intel, Igor’s Lab. Given this lab’s good reputation and credibility in the industry, its leaks are highly trustworthy and can be considered reliable.
Since Intel has now identified the root cause, it is expected that they will soon release the official investigation report. Related motherboard manufacturers will also release a new wave of BIOS updates in the near future. I will share the latest updates as soon as they are available. Please stay tuned.
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