The processors that get a two-year warranty extension.Image: Intel
Gamers’ 13th and 14th Gen Intel Core i9 CPUs started to crash strangely a few months ago, but it was only the beginning.
Since many CPUs based on its Raptor Lake architecture are vulnerable to irreparable damage, Intel has now extended its guarantee by two full years on 24 different 13th Gen and 14th Gen desktop chips, including Core i5, Core i7, and Core i9 models. Some of them have irreparably deteriorated since they were given excessive voltage. If laptop processors are failing in the same way, Intel has not yet stated.
An Intel CPU that is crashing like this as of August 2024 cannot be fixed; instead, you must exchange it, which is covered by the extended two-year guarantee. However, motherboard BIOS updates can be applied to potentially prevent harm in the first place, and Intel is specifically addressing the issue of high voltage in August updates for motherboards that it collaborates with.
Numerous questions remain unanswered, including the number of customers impacted, the reason Intel isn’t recalling these chips, the reason it didn’t remove the chips from circulation before its August patch, the method by which it will alert customers in advance, the degree of leniency it may show when handling customer requests for exchanges, and the other problems that could be causing these chips to become unstable. (Intel has said that while voltage is a major factor, it is not the sole one.)