Get
ready
for
another
wave
of
urgent
motherboard
updates
for
your
desktop
PC.
Intel
has
just
announced
a
new
microcode
update
for
its
13th
and
14th
Gen
Raptor
Lake
processors
—
the
ones
that
could
possibly
get
permanently
damaged
and
begin
to
crash
your
PC.
While
there’s
still
no
fix
for
chips
that
are
already
crashing,
the
company
is
now
releasing
microcode
update
0x12B
to
motherboard
manufacturers
to
help
prevent
one
of
the
root
causes
of
damage.
In
this
case,
it
prevents
the
Intel
CPU
from
asking
for
too
much
power
when
it’s
just
sitting
idle
or
performing
light
tasks.
(Too
much
voltage
can
prematurely
age
a
chip.)
Intel
says
it
may
take
several
weeks
for
motherboard
manufacturers
to
validate
and
roll
out
BIOS
updates
across
their
products
—
but
that
doesn’t
necessarily
mean
you
should
wait.
Previous
BIOS
updates
contain
two
earlier
Intel
microcode
fixes
to
help
prevent
damage,
as
well
as
new
power
settings
that
could
also
reduce
the
risk.
But
if
your
chip
is
already
crashing,
I
wouldn’t
bother
with
a
BIOS
—
send
it
straight
back
to
Intel
or
your
PC
system
provider,
who
should
cover
it
under
Intel’s
special
extended
warranty.
Let
us
know
if
they
refuse
to
help.
Intel
still
hasn’t
answered
our
questions
about
how
many
Raptor
Lake
chips
have
likely
been
affected
by
these
and
other
possible
instability
issues,
or
identified
batches
of
chips
that
were
affected
by
an
earlier
oxidization
issue,
but
we’re
asking
again
now.
In
late
August,
the
company
categorically
asserted
that
its
laptop
chips
are
not
affected
by
the
voltage
issue
or
other
known
causes
of
Raptor
Lake
desktop
chip
instability.
There
were
some
scattered
reports
that
Raptor
Lake
laptop
chips
were
displaying
similar
behavior.
(Originally posted by Sean Hollister)
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