Intel BIOS Updates for the Raptor Lake 13th and 14th Gen Processors: Impact on Performance, Performance, and Performance
Asus and MSI have both released beta BIOS updates today to address Intel’s crashing 13th and 14th Gen Raptor Lake desktop processors. The new microcode update from Intel should help address the instability issues despite the fact that the bios updates won’t fix damaged CPUs.
If it works, this could be a big deal for the company, which lost some of its reputation after its flagship chips were found to crash earlier this year and had to replace any damaged chips. Intel also isn’t having a great year, period, recently announcing layoffs of at least 15,000 workers and stopping “non-essential work.”
A good overview on how to check yourBIOS is provided by Falcon Northwest if you have an Asus board. The very latest Asus BIOS updates should already default to Intel’s settings instead of the company’s own overclocking profile.
In light of the recently announced extended warranty program, Intel is reaffirming its confidence in its products and is committed to making sure all customers who have or are currently experiencing instability symptoms on their 13th and/or 14th Gen desktop processors are supported in the exchange process. Users experiencing consistent instability symptoms should reach out to their system manufacturer (OEM/System Integrator purchase), Intel Customer Support (boxed processor), or place of purchase (tray processor) further assistance.
Intel has found a significant increase in the minimum operating voltages across multiple cores due to elevated voltages on affected processors. Elevated voltage events can accumulate over time and contribute to the increase in Vmin for the processor.
If there is an impact on the Intel Core 13th and 14th Gen desktop processors, Intel is looking at ways to prevent Vmin shift. Intel will provide updates by end of August.
Intel’s internal testing – utilizing Intel Default Settings – indicates performance impact is within run-to-run variation (eg. 3DMark: Timespy, WebXPRT 4, Cinebench R24, Blender 4.2.0) with a few sub-tests showing moderate impacts (WebXPRT Online Homework; PugetBench GPU Effects Score). The performance of games has been within run- to-run variation. Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a film from Cyberpunk 2077. There is one exception that shows slightly more impact. However, system performance is dependent on configuration and several other factors.
