Intel 13th/14th gen instability

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  • Saka's Avatar
    Level 52
    There's been a lot of news lately surrounding Intel's 13th and 14th generation. After a while Intel did release some statements, in which they admitted that there was an oxidation issue in the manufacturing of the dies. There's also a voltage degradation issue that allegedly only affects desktop units. Currently it's not clear whether the mobile units are affected by the oxidation. Intel did confirm that some of the mobile processors do suffer from instability issues, but has not specified which ones nor what would be the cause other than "different issue than the desktop parts".

    Some people claim that their Legion or LOQ laptops are exhibiting the symptoms of the CPU instability. Of course, they could have been unrelated issues. However, it would be helpful to know if there is indeed a chance of having a faulty CPU in the laptops delivered with 13th or 14th generation. For example, the timeframe provided by the Intel for the oxidation issue would fit the launch of the 13th generation Intel variant of the LOQ laptops. The unit I own has been subject to intermittent crashes with some strange bsods on light loads, such as browsing.
    Unamused Snarktooth. Advocate for hearing loss & accessibility. Person, friend and a terrible/terrific* artist.
    *delete as appropriate
  • 5 Replies

  • j7schultz's Avatar
    Level 47
    Hi Saka,
    Long time no see, I miss you!

    Every 13/14th are affected? I3, I5, I7 and i9?

    XOXO
  • Saka's Avatar
    Level 52
    @j7schultz Hey Jackie, it's good to see you too!

    Unfortunately, Intel is clear as mud about this issue. Even the statements they issue sometimes are conflicting and they keep sneakily updating their posts in the social media.

    There are two separate issues; one is incorrect voltage assignment/handling by the CPU itself. The other one is a manufacturing defect that causes oxidation of the dies. So in plain words, the processors get rusty.

    The latest claims from Intel imply that the voltage issue only concerns desktop chips from 65W and up. That would be all the desktop i9, i7 and i5 from 14th generation. 13th generation has a bit of an exception of SOME of the 13600/k being based on 12th generation dies. In software like Cpu-Z you can see the stepping number of the processor. If they are B0 then they are 13th gen. If they are C0 then they are rebadged 12th gen and safe. Lower tier 13th gen is rebadged 12th gen and should be free from issues.

    Now there's the oxidation and so far Intel is avoiding saying which processors are affected. They only admitted that the issue was present for basically a year - but not in straight words either. Something along the lines of started happening late 2022, and might be present in up to early 2024 stock.

    ... That could be a huge number of processors affected.

    System makers like Lenovo ought to know from warranty claim statistics if there's a larger than usual amount of cpu failures with those. It would be great for the customers if they were willing to publish a statement with their insight, and possibly offer additional support to those affected by the issues.

    I know that 13900HX and 14900HX are basically desktop dies put in laptop, it's extremely likely that at least those would be vulnerable to the voltage degradation issue. There is already plenty of posts on the internet by concerned owners of laptops with those CPUs reporting crashing in similar way to the affected desktops.
    Unamused Snarktooth. Advocate for hearing loss & accessibility. Person, friend and a terrible/terrific* artist.
    *delete as appropriate
  • j7schultz's Avatar
    Level 47
    @Saka - WOW, Saka, amazing job. Thank you so much for all those details. I was thinking about upgrading my pc in the near future, but I will try to wait a bit more, using my Legion GO with a docking station until it's safe to buy Intel again, because I don't like/trust AMD. Please keep me posted.
    Cheers,
    XOXO
  • Saka's Avatar
    Level 52
    @j7schultz Yeah, right now it's tough to recommend building a computer if AMD is not an option. Zen4 had some problems at launch, but they had a lot better response than Intel and pretty much everyone with a problematic cpu/mobo got a working replacement. A lot of people are disappointed in Intel not just because there is still ongoing issue with the processors, but also due to the long radio silence which was only broken a couple of weeks ago, followed by downplaying and damage control.

    The 15th generation is expected in Q4 2024. It's based on a different architecture than the 13th and 14th gen, so likely it won't inherit the issues.
    Unamused Snarktooth. Advocate for hearing loss & accessibility. Person, friend and a terrible/terrific* artist.
    *delete as appropriate