MSI Shares Microcode Roadmap To Address Intel 14th/13th Gen CPU Stability Issues
In case you missed it, Intel earlier this week issued a statement saying it finally discovered the root cause of widely reported instability on its 14th Gen and 13the Gen Core processors. Intel also said it would be delivering a microcode patch to address the issue, and that it was targeting mid-August for a roll out. Naturally, it could take some time for individual motherboard makers to customize the update for their own motherboard lineups, but MSI suggests it will be good to go with updates around the same time.
MSI's statement is a short one, though notable in that the motherboard maker says it has "worked closely with Intel to understand the situation and is closely monitoring the progress" of its efforts to address the issue with a microcode update. Additionally, MSI promises to "provide the updated BIOS to our customers and users as soon as possible after the new microcode is released in the middle of August," and implores affected owners to "stay tuned."
That suggests there won't be much of a delay, and that owners of MSI motherboards should expect updated firmware in the latter half of next month. We suspect the same will end up being true of Intel's other hardware partners, such as Gigabyte, but MSI is the only one (so far) to issue a statement.
For those affected, the microcode update can't come fast enough. That's especially true for anyone who owns a high-end 14th Gen or 13th Gen Core processor and has not run into issues yet, as instability woes related to the root cause mark the point of no return. How so?
According to Intel, the issue at hand is a faulty "microcode algorithm resulting in incorrect voltage requests to the processor." While not stated explicitly, the likely reason why incorrect voltage requests that are excessively high could cause instability is because that can cause premature degradation of the processor. Intel's microcode fix can prevent this from happening, but for chips that are already experiencing instability from this issue, the damage is irreversible.
The good news is, Intel won't be leaving affected users in the lurch.
"Intel is committed to making this right with our customers, and we continue asking any customers currently experiencing instability issues on their Intel Core 13th/14th Gen desktop processors reach out to Intel Customer Support for further assistance," the chip maker said.
That said, here's hoping other motherboard vendors follow MSI's plan to push out BIOS/UEFI updates in a timely manner.
