Due to the widespread sales of unstable processors, a major legal battle against Intel seems to be looming. Intel is already trying to accommodate customers by extending the warranty of the affected CPUs by two years.

Intel may be able to count on a so-called Class action lawsuit-Process. A law firm has launched an investigation into problems with thirteenth and fourteenth generation Intel Core processors. The cause is a defect that has existed for years.

Many unstable chips

Intel itself recently admitted that Raptor Lake and Raptor Lake Refresh CPUs are vulnerable to a bug that causes physical degradation of the chip. High voltages affect the processor’s circuitry and cause crashes in certain workloads. The problems first appeared in gamers, but can occur in many workloads.

Intel says that all desktop chips with a TDP of 65 watts or more are susceptible to the flaw. Keeping voltages within a lower limit prevents degradation, but performance is impacted. Customers with “K” chips have also been buying them specifically to be able to overclock them, which is proving detrimental and accelerates performance degradation.

Intel was slow to respond to the first reports of the problems and has since faced heavy criticism. It took until this week for clear statements and measures to be taken. This month, Intel will release an update to the microcode that will ensure that degradation no longer occurs. It is still unclear whether this will have an impact on performance.

Longer warranty period

In any case, the above is a possible possibility in the USA Class action lawsuitLawsuit in which customers may be entitled to compensation. Intel, meanwhile, is trying to proactively accommodate customers by extending the warranty on the chip by two years.

The standard warranty for most Intel processors is three years and will now be five years. For now, the measure only covers chips that customers have bought themselves. Customers with defective chips can theoretically exchange them at Intel without any problems within the warranty period.

The unstable processors can also be found in the manufacturers’ computers. Customers who have problems with them should contact the respective manufacturers. It is unclear whether the warranty period will be adjusted, but the chance seems high.

No call back

Intel will not initiate a recall. If you have a thirteenth or fourteenth generation processor based on Raptor Lake or Raptor Lake Refresh with a TDP of 65 watts or more, then you are currently facing a dilemma. If the chip breaks in time, you will receive a new one. If you plan to use the processor for a longer period of time, you will have to hope that the future update ensures that the problem does not occur even after the warranty period has expired.

Meanwhile, Intel is keeping quiet about possible similar problems with laptop processors. According to users, these also have similar errors, but Intel denies this.