Intel releases first microcode update for Raptor Lake stability issue, BIOSes now available

After Intel’s string of financial woes and stability issues with its Raptor Lake chips, the company could use some good news on Friday. And this week, they’re delivering just that, with the first version of a much-anticipated microcode fix for its Raptor Lake desktop processors — and the first detailed explanation of the underlying problem.

The new microcode release, version 0x129, is Intel’s first attempt to address the overvoltage issue that has apparently been causing degradation in Raptor Lake processors for the past year and a half. Intel has been investigating the issue all year, and after a slow start, has begun making more progress in recent weeks, identifying what it calls an “overvoltage” issue in high-TDP Raptor Lake processors (13^t & 14^t Generation Core). In late July, the company was planning to release a microcode patch for mid-August to fix (or rather, prevent) the degradation issue, and just before that, Intel began shipping the microcode to its motherboard partners.

Even with this new microcode, however, Intel isn’t done with the stability issue. Intel is still investigating whether it can improve the stability of already degraded processors, and the general tone of Intel’s announcement is very similar to a beta software patch – Intel won’t be pushing this particular version of microcode for distribution via an OS update, for example. So even if this microcode effectively stops the degradation in progress, it seems that Intel hasn’t closed the book on the matter entirely, and that the company is likely working on a fix suitable for wider release.

1.55V Limit: Increased voltage results in higher voltage

So what does the 0x129 microcode update do? In short, it limits the voltage of affected Raptor Lake chips to a still-warm (but within spec) 1.55V. As noted in previous Intel announcements, the issue appears to be caused by excessive voltages, so limiting voltages to what Intel has deemed the appropriate limit should prevent future damage to the chips.

The company’s letter to the community also describes for the first time what’s happening under the hood with degraded chips. The chips, which were already affected by repeated voltage spikes, have been degraded in such a way that the minimum voltage needed to operate the chip – Vmin – has increased beyond Intel’s original specifications. As a result, these chips are no longer sufficiently voltage required to operate.

Seasoned overclockers will no doubt recognize this as a familiar story, as it’s one of the ways that overclocked CPUs degrade over time. In cases like these—as seems to be the case with the Raptor Lake issue—more voltage is needed to keep the system stable, especially in workloads where the system voltages are already dropping.

And while all signs point to the degradation being irreversible (and plenty of RMAs in Intel’s future), there is a glimmer of hope. If Intel’s analysis is correct that degraded Raptor Lake chips can still function properly at higher Vmin voltages, there is a chance that at least some of these chips can be saved and brought back to stability.

This “Vmin change,” as Intel calls it, is the next target of the company’s investigation. According to the company’s letter, they aim to deliver updates by “the end of August.”

In the meantime, Intel’s willing motherboard partners have already begun to release BIOSes with the new microcode, and ASUS and MSI even got ahead of the competition and shipped BIOSes before Intel could even announce the microcode. Both vendors are releasing them as beta BIOSes, reflecting the generally early nature of the microcode fix itself. And while we expect most users will want to implement the microcode as soon as possible to mitigate further damage to affected systems, it would be prudent to treat these beta BIOSes as just that.

In the same vein, as mentioned earlier, Intel is only distributing the 0x129 microcode via a BIOS update at this time. This microcode will not appear on other systems via an OS update. At this point, we still expect distribution via an OS update to be the end game for this fix, but Intel is not providing a timeline or other indication of when that might happen. So for PC enthusiasts, at least, a BIOS update is the only way to get it for now.

Impact on performance: Generally zero – but not always

Finally, Intel’s message also includes some hints about the performance impact of the new microcode, based on their internal testing. Previously, the company indicated that it doesn’t expect a significant performance impact, and based on their extensive testing, that’s generally the case. However, there will be some workloads that will suffer from performance regressions as a result.

So far, Intel has found a few workloads where it sees regressions. This includes PugetBench GPU Effects Score and, when it comes to games, Hitman 3: Dartmoor. Other than that, pretty much everything else Intel has tested, including popular benchmarks like Cinebench and major games, shows no performance regressions. So the overall result of the fix isn’t a completely flawless recovery, but it doesn’t lead to widespread performance losses either.

As regards AnandTechwe’ll be testing this on our own benchmark suite as time permits. We have another processor launching next week, so there’s no shortage of work to do in the next few days. (Sorry, Gavin!)

Intel’s Full Statement