Intel confirms Raptor Lake-S stability issues are caused by incorrect value in microcode, update on the way
Intel has not yet released a statement on the Core i9 stability issues despite promising one by the end of May. However, it seems that Intel admits that the problem is not simply caused by motherboard settings but is primarily an issue with the microcode algorithm itself.
The company has found that the root cause of the stability issue lies in a value set within the microcode algorithm for eTVB (Enhanced Thermal Boost Velocity). This problem was detected in the Raptor Lake S (Intel 13th Gen Core) and Raptor Lake Refresh S (14th Gen Core series).
Root cause is an incorrect value in a microcode algorithm associated with the eTVB feature.
Implication Increased frequency and corresponding voltage at high temperature may reduce processor reliability.
Observed Found internally. Impacted platforms Raptor Lake S, Raptor Lake Refresh S (CPUID 0xB0671)— Intel NDA documents obtained by Igor’sLAB
The news actually comes from a leak of Intel’s internal documents, available through NDA, but they were leaked by Igor Wallossek, who obtained the document before Intel releases (hopefully) a public statement.
The Thermal Velocity Boost technology is only available on Core i9 SKUs; hence, the problem within the microcode only affects these processors. This technology is designed to overclock the processor beyond standard boost technologies, depending on available thermal capacity and power consumption. Presumably, this algorithm did not work as intended, causing the stability issues present on many Core i9 SKUs.
Failure Analysis (FA) of 13th and 14th Generation K SKU processors indicates a shift in minimum operating voltage on affected processors resulting from cumulative exposure to elevated core voltages. Intel® analysis has determined a confirmed contributing factor for this issue is elevated voltage input to the processor due to previous BIOS settings which allow the processor to operate at turbo frequencies and voltages even while the processor is at a high temperature. Previous generations of Intel® K SKU processors were less sensitive to these type of settings due to lower default operating voltage and frequency.
Intel® requests all customers to update BIOS to microcode 0x125 or later by 7/19/2024.
This microcode includes an eTVB fix for an issue which may allow the processor to enter a higher performance state even when the processor temperature has exceeded eTVB thresholds.— Intel NDA documents obtained by Igor’sLAB
Intel is now requesting all customers (OEMs and its partners in this context) to issue a BIOS update with the new microcode by July 19th. We may soon see a wave of BIOS updates following the addition of Intel Baseline profiles to the existing LGA-1700 motherboards. The previous BIOS did not resolve the problem, but with the new microcode update for Thermal Velocity Boost, this issue may finally be fixed.
It is unclear why Intel has not released a statement yet. However, assuming that the leaked NDA notice from Igor Wallossek is real, it shouldn’t take long for the company to confirm its authenticity.
Source: Igor’sLAB