An algorithm, among the many other things they ruin, is causing stability problems on Intel Core CPUs

Intel have identified the fault behind reported stability issues with their 13th and 14th Gen Core CPUs, many of which have been failing after feeding themselves excessive voltages. The blame, Intel told PCG, lies with the same kind of pernicious force that fills your Twitter feed with pillocks, has turned Google into an AI-sodden shell of its former self, and keeps making Spotify suggest I listen to ninety different electroswing arrangements of Everybody Wants to Be a Cat. That's right: an algorithm.

Specifically, it’s a faulty microcode algorithm, microcode essentially being a kind of CPU firmware. PCG quoted an Intel spokesperson that "Based on extensive analysis of Intel Core 13th/14th Gen desktop processors returned to us due to instability issues, we have determined that elevated operating voltage is causing instability issues in some 13th/14th Gen desktop processors. Our analysis of returned processors confirms that the elevated operating voltage is stemming from a microcode algorithm resulting in incorrect voltage requests to the processor."

The good news is that an apparent fix is on the way, as microcode is fairly easy to patch. The bad news is that Intel reckon this won’t be ready until mid-August at the earliest. It’s also too late for the Core chips that have already bit the silicone dust, which have mainly been higher-tier models like the Core i9-14900K and Core i9-13900K.

Unusually for a widespread technical oopsie like this one, word has been spread not just by disgruntled home users and tech media, but members of the games industry as well: Alderon Games, developers of dinosaur sim Path of Titans, shared a post on their website attacking Intel for selling defective processors. The post cited "thousands of crashes on Intel CPUs", gathered via Path of Titans’ crash reporting tools, and announced that Alderon would migrate their entire server setup to AMD hardware "to prevent further harm to our game."

Not that the makers of a dino survival MMO are necessarily the ultimate moral arbiters, but when an entire development studio is blogging about how knackered your hardware is, it’s likely past time to take action. Fingers crossed the algorithm really is to blame (they usually are), and that the microcode patch is ready in good time.