Intel still hasn’t figured out how to distinguish a working Raptor Lake processor from a degraded one

Intel said it has not yet developed a reliable means of determining whether a specific instance of the Raptor Lake or Raptor Lake Refresh family of processors is affected by instability, which could cause permanent damage to the chip. But it “continues to explore the possibility of creating a detection tool” and “will release an update if it becomes available,” an Intel spokesperson told Tom’s Hardware.

Some 13th and 14th generation Intel Core processors exhibit instability, and it took the manufacturer several months to find the root cause. At the end of September, the company spoke in detail about the roots of the problem and released a microcode update, which, according to its version, will solve the problem once and for all – at least for those processors that have not yet received irreversible damage.

However, a processor damaged as a result of the problem will continue to exhibit instability even after updating the motherboard firmware. Intel has extended the warranty on Raptor Lake and Raptor Lake Refresh family chips for Core i5, i7 and i9 models by two years, so if the warranty shows up within five years of purchase, the processor can be replaced – possibly even with a later model. But if the chip does fail, it may take some time to replace it, so a diagnostic tool would come in handy.

Image Source: Intel

In addition to the microcode update, Intel recommended that owners of 13th and 14th generation Core processors at least somewhat stick to the default settings even when the microcode update is installed – this will help avoid the Vmin offset causing the problem. “Firmware update 0x12B (which includes previous microcode updates 0x125 and 0x129), in addition to Intel standard tweaks, permanently resolves the Vmin instability issue on 13th and 14th generation Intel desktop processors,” Intel said.

Once installed, you can freely increase the power limits PL1 and PL2 beyond the “recommended values” while still maintaining your warranty. But it is necessary to comply with the safety settings, such as IccMax and other items at the top of the standard settings table provided by the manufacturer, otherwise the warranty may be void. “Users who wish to overclock the processor or set higher power settings than recommended may still do so at their own risk, but overclocking may void the warranty or affect system performance,” the company concluded.