Another US law firm is now exploring the possibility of filing a class action lawsuit against Intel on behalf of its clients. Kaplan Gore announced the collection of complaints from owners of 13th and 14th generation Raptor Lake processors.
The problem lies in the microcode of the 13th and 14th generation Intel Core Raptor Lake processors. It allows the chips to be over-volted, causing irreversible damage — causing the processors to crash even at previously safe clock speeds or to fail completely. To fix the problem, Intel has released a microcode update and extended the warranty on all Raptor Lake processors by two years. The extended warranty only applies to those who purchased the Intel processor separately and does not apply to customers who purchased their PCs from OEMs. But even those who are eligible for the extended warranty are having to wait too long for a replacement.
Some owners of failed chips began to publish complaints that Intel was obstructing product replacements. In one case, the company said that the two processors sent by a customer had been “remarked,” meaning that he was not entitled to a replacement, nor even a return of his faulty units. But when the story was made public, the company agreed to a replacement. Another customer was turned away because Intel would not accept proof of purchase for the processors. Cases like these prompted Kaplan Gore to intervene.
The incident would not have happened if Intel had not been chasing record clock speeds, the resource was told. The Register at PC builder Puget Systems. The Intel Core i9-13900K has a peak clock speed of 5.8 GHz, 100 MHz faster than AMD’s fastest Ryzen 9 7950X, and the updated Core i9-14900KS has a peak clock speed of 6.2 GHz. But to achieve such results, you need to increase the voltage. Meanwhile, Puget Systems customers have been largely unaffected by the crashes because the company manually sets Intel’s recommended power settings when building PCs.
Motherboard manufacturers do not always adhere to Intel’s power recommendations and use their own indicators. As a result, the same Core i9-14900K, designed for 253 W, can consume all 300 W without user intervention. But with basic settings, Intel processors could look worse in comparison with AMD products: Raptor Lake models differ very little from the current Ryzen 7000, and the drop in performance could cost Intel too much.
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