Intel confirms manufacturing defects caused instability on some 13th-gen Raptor Lake processors

A few days, ago, Intel finally commented on instability issues with high-end Raptor Lake desktop chips. Initially, it cited bad microcode and high operating voltages as the root cause. However, some of our readers several Reddit commenters, and investigative YouTuber Gamer's Nexus pointed out there could be more to it. The company has since updated its post on Reddit with the following text and insisted for a second time that Raptor Lake mobile (HX) parts should not be affected and any instability/crashes is a result of poorly optimized software/drivers:

Questions about manufacturing or Via Oxidation as reported by Tech outlets:

Short answer: We can confirm there was a via Oxidation manufacturing issue (addressed back in 2023) and that only a small number of instability reports can be connected to the manufacturing issue.

Long answer: We can confirm that the via Oxidation manufacturing issue affected some early Intel Core 13th Gen desktop processors. However, the issue was root caused and addressed with manufacturing improvements and screens in 2023. We have also looked at it from the instability reports on Intel Core 13th Gen desktop processors and the analysis to-date has determined that only a small number of instability reports can be connected to the manufacturing issue.For the Instability issue, we are delivering a microcode patch which addresses exposure to elevated voltages which is a key element of the Instability issue. We are currently validating the microcode patch to ensure the instability issues for 13th/14th Gen are addressed.

In essence, Intel confirms that some early 13th-gen CPUs degraded due to an issue with the company's manufacturing process. It claims the issue has since been fixed, and that it only affects a "small number" of users. Unfortunately, there is still no clear path for early 13th-gen adopters' RMA process. One Alderon Games developer alleges Intel rejected their RMA requests in 2023, right around when the supposed oxidation issue occurred.

If you're a Core i9-13900K/14900K owners and want to make sure your system doesn't run the risk of crashing until the microcode update arrives in mid-August, there are several solutions in the Reddit thread. A fellow Notebookcheck contributer recommends you increase P-core ratio to x58 for all-core and x60 for the starred ones. Even with unlimiuted power, the voltage remains stable between 1.36 to 1.39 V.