Intel breaks silence on 13th and 14th-gen Raptor Lake desktop CPU instability issues

Owners of high-end Intel desktop CPUs, specifically the Raptor Lake-based Core i9-13900K, Core i9-14900K, and others, have long complained about system instability. Widely believed to be caused by the chips' power consumption, motherboard vendors and Intel tried to remedy it via BIOS updates that essentially lowered power consumption/voltage. An Intel spokesperson reached out to us with the following comment about the matter:

Based on extensive analysis of Intel Core 13th/14th Gen desktop processors returned to us due to instability issues, we have determined that elevated operating voltage is causing instability issues in some 13th/14th Gen desktop processors. Our analysis of returned processors confirms that the elevated operating voltage is stemming from a microcode algorithm resulting in incorrect voltage requests to the processor.

Intel is delivering a microcode patch which addresses the root cause of exposure to elevated voltages. We are continuing validation to ensure that scenarios of instability reported to Intel regarding its Core 13th/14th Gen desktop processors are addressed. Intel is currently targeting mid-August for patch release to partners following full validation.

Intel is committed to making this right with our customers, and we continue asking any customers currently experiencing instability issues on their Intel Core 13th/14th Gen desktop processors reach out to Intel Customer Support for further assistance.

While many might deem mid-August to be a tad late, a rushed update will do more harm than good. Intel's findings sit in line with earlier fixes that did more or less the same. Unfortunately, BIOS updates didn't fix everyone's CPUs and one can only hope the next one does a better job. Gamers Nexus, on the other hand, opines the issue is more deep rooted and requires additional investigation.

A developer from Alderon Games, one of the studios heavily affected by Raptor Lake instability, says even Intel's Raptor Lake-HX chips are affected by the issue. Even though the company claims that its laptop CPUs are fine, we have reached out to Intel for a comment on the matter and will update the article once we hear back.