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PSA for 13th/14th gen Intel CPU owners

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I don't have an exact timeline, but very roughly the first rumbles there might be some kind of problem with these CPUs started popping up in February. Around April it got loud enough that Intel started doing something about it and the first step was to curtail some of the more excessive optimisations mobo manufacturer's set. It should be noted that in the past, and it might still be the case, system builders were given the freedom to freely adjust power limit alone. This was not considered overclocking and was allowed. There are many other things that can be tweaked, and I don't know which ones would or wouldn't be considered out of spec by Intel. As time moved on Intel found an eTVB bug, which was not the cause but still they fixed it. Later again they found the voltage problem, and the latest one was which part got worn out first by that excessive voltage, along with yet more voltage optimisations.

So back to the question if mobos were to blame, kinda but not. Without the latest fixes, it seems like the CPUs would still degrade at a higher than expected rate over time, although maybe it would have been slowed down for some people.

If you've ever had to work in product support, it really isn't as simple as some think that you report a problem, someone looks at it and fixes it quickly. It could happen for something simple, but this was far from simple. It is about worst case since it varies slowly over time. Problems that are easy to repeat on demand are much faster to find.
I know product support very well- agreed
Thanks for this. True re complex on this one to me at least.
 
Ooof. Sorry that happened man. Sounds like your board crapped out.... doesn't seem like a CPU issue if it's working in other boards though... weird.
And you where right!
So purchased a TUF Z790 gaming and installed the first release 14th gen micro code. And so far the cpu seems to be running very well.

Keep in mind the 14700K I have has been used several times under DryIce. It still gives really nice results.

Having said this, I've been able to IMPROVE all of my benchmark scores since the replacement and using the release micro code.

Won't be doing any bios updates to this new board and will try and further improve some benchmarks scores in the future, perhaps I'll see some degradation in the future, maybe not. So far not.

CBR20 improved nicely. As per example below.

3218734.jpeg
 
New video by Wendell. Seems like the new BIOS updates are helping mitigate the issue. He also talks about how there has been internal debate about this and similar issues within Intel for a while and basically that engineers within the company have been concerned and warning about the issue but that the management at Intel has been ignoring them until it all blew up in a public way. He doesn't do extensive testing with the new code as he did before, but mentions that his industry contacts expect to see a significant drop in returns with the new BIOS updates in place (he gives a roughly 50% number). Also says that Intel has now worked out deals for OEM only CPUs to get returned past their original warranty period as well. So, overall, he feels confident about the current RPL situation, though it might not be 100% solved.

On the negative side, there are some early reports that the latest BIOS update (the 2nd one to fix the issue) does drop performance more significantly than the prior update. Reports are around 5 - 7% performance hit. These should be taken with a good helping of salt for now though as they are just random forum reports.

 
New video by Wendell. Seems like the new BIOS updates are helping mitigate the issue. He also talks about how there has been internal debate about this and similar issues within Intel for a while and basically that engineers within the company have been concerned and warning about the issue but that the management at Intel has been ignoring them until it all blew up in a public way. He doesn't do extensive testing with the new code as he did before, but mentions that his industry contacts expect to see a significant drop in returns with the new BIOS updates in place (he gives a roughly 50% number). Also says that Intel has now worked out deals for OEM only CPUs to get returned past their original warranty period as well. So, overall, he feels confident about the current RPL situation, though it might not be 100% solved.

On the negative side, there are some early reports that the latest BIOS update (the 2nd one to fix the issue) does drop performance more significantly than the prior update. Reports are around 5 - 7% performance hit. These should be taken with a good helping of salt for now though as they are just random forum reports.

Thanks!! Well I’m not surprised it’s managements fault, they pull the trigger to put out a product in any industry. Extensive testing would be interesting, and of course larger numbers/voices from people.

The performance drop if standard for all, who will it really affect only gamers and only on certain games perhaps?
 
Thanks!! Well I’m not surprised it’s managements fault, they pull the trigger to put out a product in any industry. Extensive testing would be interesting, and of course larger numbers/voices from people.

The performance drop if standard for all, who will it really affect only gamers and only on certain games perhaps?

No idea, we need proper testing to see what the impact is, if any.
 
Thanks for the summary. I was linked that before but I'm still in no mental state to sit thought it. Really wish that was in a written format.

As for "perf drops" it comes back to what is your reference point? Vs early "overclocked" conditions, expected for sure. Vs one of the Intel profiles? More interesting.
 
Thanks for the summary. I was linked that before but I'm still in no mental state to sit thought it. Really wish that was in a written format.

As for "perf drops" it comes back to what is your reference point? Vs early "overclocked" conditions, expected for sure. Vs one of the Intel profiles? More interesting.
Exactly on reference point!! I’d like to know if the drop is just to the original standards of how the chip should have performed all along..
 
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