If you’ve been keeping up with tech news for the last few months, you’ve almost certainly heard about the flaws affecting Intel 13th- and 14th-gen desktop CPUs. You might’ve also heard that Intel’s fixing them — or at least trying to mitigate future CPU failures.
Today, the first motherboard BIOS updates with fixes for Intel’s crashing CPUs are rolling out, from both Asus and MSI.
Intel’s fix is actually a microcode patch applied to the Raptor Lake-series processors to fix voltage errors. The patch is applied using motherboard UEFI-BIOS as a delivery method.
MSI’s various high-end Z790 motherboards in the MAG, MEG, and MPG series are getting the patch right now (spotted by PCGamer), with other 700-series and 600-series motherboards being patched “in the coming weeks by the end of August.”
Asus is following suit, but doing so in its typical way of posting Google Drive file links for beta updates on its official ROG forums. So far, the updates are coming to Z790 boards in the Strix and Maximus categories, plus the Z790-AYW OC WIFI and ProArt Z790-Creator WiFi. Presumably, the BIOS files will be available as standard downloads after the forum posters get some time beta testing it.
Note that these BIOS files include the “official” fix for the problem straight from Intel, and shouldn’t be confused with earlier attempts by PC manufacturers to mitigate damage by resetting factory overclocks on “gaming” motherboards to default settings.
The hope is that the voltage adjustment in the microcode will prevent currently operating processors from future damage, but the fix is unlikely to reverse any damage already inflicted to crashing CPUs. As such, other OEMs are likely scrambling to get the Intel fix applied to their own motherboards as quickly as possible to save their customers a lot of headaches (not to mention time and money in support and RMAs).
If you’ve already been affected by a crashing CPU, you might want to look into Intel’s newly-expanded warranties that should cover all the Raptor Lake processors currently in user machines.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he's the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop "battlestation" in his off hours. Michael's previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he's covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he's always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.