News Intel allegedly has 'stock availability issues' for Core i9-13900K and 14900K CPUs

[Admin]

Intel reportedly runs out of replacements for its range-topping Core i9-13900K/14900K 'Raptor Lake' CPUs.

Intel allegedly has 'stock availability issues' for Core i9-13900K and 14900K CPUs : Read more

 

[Amdlova]

Intel is selling well the Hot potato chip lol!

 

[Eximo]

Intel is selling well the Hot potato chip lol!

No, probably fielding a lot of RMA replacements and being unable to restock retailers.

 

[Amdlova]

It's a joke

 

[graywolfman]

So, here's my experience:
I was watching closely as all of the issues were happening and my computer was beginning to become unstable. Once they released the microcode update I installed the beta BIOS from ASUS - which ended up being the final version, anyway. My stability issues continued, memtest86 showed failures on two different sets of RAM that are two different speeds from two different manufacturers.

I finally put in a case with Intel which sat for a week with no progress. I called Intel's hotline and pressed the button to get a call back, which never happened. The next day I called early in the morning, as soon as they opened, and sat on hold for 5 hours and 18 minutes before someone answered. After speaking with them for a couple minutes, the agreed my processor was faulty, as I supplied multiple blue screen codes, memtest results, a CRC error when unpacking Nvidia drivers, and proof of purchase in the original ticket. I used Task Manager to set processor affinity for the Nvidia drivers and found two of them that failed every single time.

The person on the phone said they were sending my ticket up to level two. After another few days of no response, I got on Intel's chat who then asked if I would like to cross-ship or send mine back first. I chose cross-shipping, which caused another delay is they had to wait for the warranty people to get a hold of me for the next steps. I had the i9-13900K and they said they were out of stock on that and asked if it was okay if they sent me the 14900K, to which I agreed. After a few more days, they reached out, and I provided payment information to have a hold put on my card for the MSRP of the processor.

I just got my processor yesterday and put it in last night, running memtest overnight with no errors. I am reinstalling my operating system today just to be safe and hoping the processor continues working well as they work on their next microcode update for September.

What a frustrating mess Intel has created for themselves!

 

[TheHerald]

used Task Manager to set processor affinity for the Nvidia drivers and found two of them that failed every single time.

This part is very interesting. Do you have any idea which ones they are? Are you savvy with the bios? Intel chips have 2 cores selected as the "best cores" which are the ones that boost to the 6ghz, you can see which cores those are from the bios. If the 2 cores failing are the 2 with the ST boost then clearly the ST boost is the issue that degrades the chips.

But good thing you got your 13900k upgraded to a 14900k, kudos to Intel, awesome support.

 

[Giroro]

What happens if you tell them you are not willing to wait?

 

[TheHerald]

What happens if you tell them you are not willing to wait?

Probably they'll send you a lower tier replacement until one is available.

 

[setx]

kudos to Intel, awesome support.

Are you joking? Having to sit 5+ hours on the phone and the rest described is bad support in my definition.

 

[mac_angel]

I'm kinda curious if the new CPUs that they are making will be fixed, or if it's a BIOS only fix.

 

[Eximo]

I'm kinda curious if the new CPUs that they are making will be fixed, or if it's a BIOS only fix.

They will certainly ship with the appropriate microcode already loaded to the CPU. BIOS update, or even a Windows update, is just a method of getting the microcode out there.

I suppose it is possible they will make a new stepping of the CPU with lessons learned.

 

[mac_angel]

They will certainly ship with the appropriate microcode already loaded to the CPU. BIOS update, or even a Windows update, is just a method of getting the microcode out there.

I suppose it is possible they will make a new stepping of the CPU with lessons learned.

well, the new BIOS update is just that, a BIOS update. It doesn't change anything within the CPU. A Windows update wouldn't be able to, either. Intel did say it was a microcode within the CPU, so I'd have to assume that they'd fix that with the new ones; just a matter of how long ago did they start making that change. Might be part of the reason they are short on stock. Obviously having to RMA a lot more CPUs than intended, but they also probably didn't want to ship out many of the 'broken' CPUs than they had to.

 

[Eximo]

well, the new BIOS update is just that, a BIOS update. It doesn't change anything within the CPU. A Windows update wouldn't be able to, either. Intel did say it was a microcode within the CPU, so I'd have to assume that they'd fix that with the new ones; just a matter of how long ago did they start making that change. Might be part of the reason they are short on stock. Obviously having to RMA a lot more CPUs than intended, but they also probably didn't want to ship out many of the 'broken' CPUs than they had to.

I think you have a misunderstanding there.

Microcode can be distributed in BIOS updates, that is what the new BIOS releases in August were all about. Getting that microcode out to prevent CPUs from continuing to have voltage issues.

Random ASUS Z790 board:
The new BIOS includes Intel microcode 0x129 and adjusts the factory default settings for the non-K processors, enhancing the stability of Intel Core 13th and 14th gen desktop processors.

 

[mac_angel]

I think you have a misunderstanding there.

Microcode can be distributed in BIOS updates, that is what the new BIOS releases in August were all about. Getting that microcode out to prevent CPUs from continuing to have voltage issues.

Random ASUS Z790 board:
The new BIOS includes Intel microcode 0x129 and adjusts the factory default settings for the non-K processors, enhancing the stability of Intel Core 13th and 14th gen desktop processors.

I looked it up and asked around. I wasn't sure about updating my BIOS because I was undervolting my CPU (14900K) to 1.35V and LLC5 (MSI). It was able to let me run at stock speeds without any thermal throttling. All the overclocking posts all over were claiming above 6GHz all core and whatever, but they were never able to actually stay at that speed; they'd all thermal throttle. I ended up with MUCH higher scores than all those overclockers.
Last week I decided to try it, thinking it might help with the spikes and maybe let me get a slight overclock. I spent the whole day just trying to get stock speeds and I wasn't able to get even close to my previous scores.
I asked around some more and I was told that the microcode is BIOS only. If you take your CPU from that one motherboard and put it in another motherboard, you would have to update the BIOS of the new motherboard as well. I was able to reflash the original BIOS back onto my motherboard, type in all my original values, and got my scores back.
Yes, I might not be susceptible to the Intel voltage problem with my voltage locked at 1.35V, but multiple people telling me that if you move your CPU from one motherboard to another means you need to update the new motherboard BIOS, too, kinda makes it seem like it's a motherboard fix for current CPUs, and it doesn't change anything in the CPU itself.

 

[Eximo]

I asked around some more and I was told that the microcode is BIOS only. If you take your CPU from that one motherboard and put it in another motherboard, you would have to update the BIOS of the new motherboard as well.

I've seen several explanations out there. Not sure which is accurate. (I think the root cause of the confusion is simplification of how it actually works)

This seems logical and would support what you have heard:
ROM on the CPU contains microcode and at boot, if there is an update sitting on the BIOS that gets loaded into a small amount of SRAM on the CPU for operations, essentially supplanting the parts of the code that are different.

Microcode updates can be distributed via BIOS or OS, particularly Linux has a very transparent process. However they are quite clear that some microcode updates can only be sent out with a BIOS or traditional firmware update due to modern security measures.

Also some additional problems that arise from different CPU form factors. Intel mobile chips have the PCH with them and generally soldered to the motherboard, and that can have its own updateable memory. Desktop chips have their PCH on the motherboard, so they don't travel with the CPU. I think some articles are referring to one or the other without being specific, and some articles are referring back to older sources in which mobile CPUs were still socketed.

 

[TheHerald]

I looked it up and asked around. I wasn't sure about updating my BIOS because I was undervolting my CPU (14900K) to 1.35V and LLC5 (MSI). It was able to let me run at stock speeds without any thermal throttling. All the overclocking posts all over were claiming above 6GHz all core and whatever, but they were never able to actually stay at that speed; they'd all thermal throttle. I ended up with MUCH higher scores than all those overclockers.
Last week I decided to try it, thinking it might help with the spikes and maybe let me get a slight overclock. I spent the whole day just trying to get stock speeds and I wasn't able to get even close to my previous scores.
I asked around some more and I was told that the microcode is BIOS only. If you take your CPU from that one motherboard and put it in another motherboard, you would have to update the BIOS of the new motherboard as well. I was able to reflash the original BIOS back onto my motherboard, type in all my original values, and got my scores back.
Yes, I might not be susceptible to the Intel voltage problem with my voltage locked at 1.35V, but multiple people telling me that if you move your CPU from one motherboard to another means you need to update the new motherboard BIOS, too, kinda makes it seem like it's a motherboard fix for current CPUs, and it doesn't change anything in the CPU itself.

Besides the microcode the new bios probably has some motherboard related changes (CEP, ac / dc ll) that's why you arent getting your old scores. But I'm fairly confident the microcode is within the cpu and swapping mobos won't revert it to an older version.