News Intel announces an extra two years of warranty for its chips amid crashing and instability issues — longer warranty applies to 13th- and 14th-Gen C...

[Sm0k3y32]

This is seems to affect the 13 and 14th gen i7s and i9s. Had to under clock my i7 13700 kf down to 5.0 GHz to stop it from failing on unreal engine 5. It's one thing to make a mistake, it's a whole other issue to not stand behind your product and blame motherboard companies... Gone Intel my whole gaming life (23 years). I suggest AMD on all my customer builds at this point.

 

[TheHerald]

This is seems to affect the 13 and 14th gen i7s and i9s. Had to under clock my i7 13700 kf down to 5.0 GHz to stop it from failing on unreal engine 5. It's one thing to make a mistake, it's a whole other issue to not stand behind your product and blame motherboard companies... Gone Intel my whole gaming life (23 years). I suggest AMD on all my customer builds at this point.

RMA it. Don't worry, they stand behind their chips, they will give you a new one. With a fresh new 5 year warranty.

 

[bit_user]

RMA it. Don't worry, they stand behind their chips, they will give you a new one. With a fresh new 5 year warranty.

Source?

I've never heard of a manufacturer resetting the warranty period when you file for a RMA. Unless Intel explicitly said otherwise, the warranty period should still be 5 years after an affected, retail-boxed CPU was initially purchased.

Also, in many cases, when you do a RMA, you'll get a refurb unit in return. A complaint you often see is that a nearly new hard drive fails and instead of a new replacement, the manufacturer sends them a refurb drive that might be a lot older than the one which failed.

 

[Sm0k3y32]

I wish it was that simple with the Rma horror stories all plauging the forums .It's my main rig at my internet cafe. I can't afford to lose my CPU and close down shop for the week it takes for that process to work even if it is accepted. Would have to bring my old rig back up there and put on all my software,media slides, ext & have the fun of switching it back over. Stuck with a faulty CPU with a lesson learned. It's less headache to buy a new model and have no down time. I saw the new models they were planning to release with no e cores and more p cores just waiting to see how they do over a little bit of time to make sure I don't walk into the same mess again.

 

[TheHerald]

Source?

I've never heard of a manufacturer resetting the warranty period when you file for a RMA. Unless Intel explicitly said otherwise, the warranty period should still be 5 years after an affected, retail-boxed CPU was initially purchased.

Also, in many cases, when you do a RMA, you'll get a refurb unit in return. A complaint you often see is that a nearly new hard drive fails and instead of a new replacement, the manufacturer sends them a refurb drive that might be a lot older than the one which failed.

Actually you might be right. I need to read more careful how did intel phrase it. It might not apply to RMAed products and they just get an extra 2 years on their current guarantee / warranty.

 

[TheHerald]

I wish it was that simple with the Rma horror stories all plauging the forums .\

The only 3 cases I've seen that are supposed "horror" stories is

1) One user has no idea what a subpart means and thought it's something bad, when in fact intel was telling him that if we don't have your exact cpu we will give you one better

2) The other guy that took a picture of the die full of paste and the bot couldnt read the serial number

3) A guy asking originally for RMA and then changing his mind and asking for a refund, but problem is you cant get a refund from Intel, you have to go to the retailer. And of course the retailer can refuse.Not really an intel issue.

 

[YSCCC]

I wish it was that simple with the Rma horror stories all plauging the forums .It's my main rig at my internet cafe. I can't afford to lose my CPU and close down shop for the week it takes for that process to work even if it is accepted. Would have to bring my old rig back up there and put on all my software,media slides, ext & have the fun of switching it back over. Stuck with a faulty CPU with a lesson learned. It's less headache to buy a new model and have no down time. I saw the new models they were planning to release with no e cores and more p cores just waiting to see how they do over a little bit of time to make sure I don't walk into the same mess again.

A few days of downtime is already likely to cost more revenue than a new system altogether.. so you're basically stuck in either getting a lowest end i3 12th gen and slap it in for the interim and wait for the RMA return (hopefully everything is fine, especially given they are in hot flames now they likely will be less troublesome to RMA), or just plainly built another system, but given the reported low yeilds in the Meteor lake and that now intel is forced into putting more resources to deal with this RPL PR disaster and how long it takes intel to finally give the "fix", it's your choice what system you are going after.

 

[slightnitpick]

I wish it was that simple with the Rma horror stories all plauging the forums .It's my main rig at my internet cafe. I can't afford to lose my CPU and close down shop for the week it takes for that process to work even if it is accepted.

In the RMA process I would let Intel know that you're a small business owner and that being without the processor for any period of time means thousands of dollars in losses. See if they will be willing to compensate you for a purchase instead of an RMA replacement. Or willing to send you a replacement prior to you sending the processor in for RMA.

It's less headache to buy a new model and have no down time.

The 12th generation processors are presumably compatible with your motherboard. They also have really decent failure rates based on the Puget Systems data. The second best all around of anything Intel or AMD since Intel 10th generation: https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-com...e-rate-data-cites-conservative-power-settings

Newegg is currently selling the 12900KF new for $326: https://www.newegg.com/intel-core-i9-12900kf-core-i9-12th-gen/p/N82E16819118341

In general though I think a couple of additional important lessons to "learn" from this are: always have a backup on hand ready to plug in at a moments notice, and maybe do your gaming intensive work on a separate computer from your business work? I would guess that your business doesn't need anything near the processing or graphics power of your gaming. I'm not trying to be preachy or critical, but you never know what's going to happen to your one and only computer, and making a living is a heck of a lot more important than playing games (unless this is actually part of the draw for your cafe).

 

[Sm0k3y32]

In the RMA process I would let Intel know that you're a small business owner and that being without the processor for any period of time means thousands of dollars in losses. See if they will be willing to compensate you for a purchase instead of an RMA replacement. Or willing to send you a replacement prior to you sending the processor in for RMA.

The 12th generation processors are presumably compatible with your motherboard. They also have really decent failure rates based on the Puget Systems data. The second best all around of anything Intel or AMD since Intel 10th generation: https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-com...e-rate-data-cites-conservative-power-settings

Newegg is currently selling the 12900KF new for $326: https://www.newegg.com/intel-core-i9-12900kf-core-i9-12th-gen/p/N82E16819118341

In general though I think a couple of additional important lessons to "learn" from this are: always have a backup on hand ready to plug in at a moments notice, and maybe do your gaming intensive work on a separate computer from your business work? I would guess that your business doesn't need anything near the processing or graphics power of your gaming. I'm not trying to be preachy or critical, but you never know what's going to happen to your one and only computer, and making a living is a heck of a lot more important than playing games (unless this is actually part of the draw for your cafe).

I appreciate the feedback I might try to contact them and tell them my situation. It's a gaming cafe. I have a "manager laptop" and a backup computer at home just never expected a problem because it's never happened in over 20 years of getting intels. Life happens and I get that but struggle with the time it took to admit the issue rather than pushing blame everywhere else. Just not a good look. My CPU works and doesn't crash now it's just at 5.0 GHz. Already working a ton of hours and like for my things to work as advertised.

 

[YSCCC]

I appreciate the feedback I might try to contact them and tell them my situation. It's a gaming cafe. I have a "manager laptop" and a backup computer at home just never expected a problem because it's never happened in over 20 years of getting intels. Life happens and I get that but struggle with the time it took to admit the issue rather than pushing blame everywhere else. Just not a good look. My CPU works and doesn't crash now it's just at 5.0 GHz. Already working a ton of hours and like for my things to work as advertised.

Nice that it still kind of works, but since it already shows signs of degradation, usually it will worsen pretty quick as electromigration is already doing some significant things in it, finger crossed your case will be handled promptly, it's different without a computer for netflix and games and a few days without a working computer. Could you update after the RMA process? I think a lot of intel users would like to know more

 

[thestryker]

I wish it was that simple with the Rma horror stories all plauging the forums .It's my main rig at my internet cafe. I can't afford to lose my CPU and close down shop for the week it takes for that process to work even if it is accepted. Would have to bring my old rig back up there and put on all my software,media slides, ext & have the fun of switching it back over. Stuck with a faulty CPU with a lesson learned. It's less headache to buy a new model and have no down time. I saw the new models they were planning to release with no e cores and more p cores just waiting to see how they do over a little bit of time to make sure I don't walk into the same mess again.

Depending on where you live an advanced RMA might be a thing where they'll ship a new CPU to you before you send yours back. I believe the US cost is something like $25 so in this case it probably be worthwhile if that's an option. In your shoes I'd be worried about the damage already having been done and getting worse.

 

[TheHerald]

I appreciate the feedback I might try to contact them and tell them my situation. It's a gaming cafe. I have a "manager laptop" and a backup computer at home just never expected a problem because it's never happened in over 20 years of getting intels. Life happens and I get that but struggle with the time it took to admit the issue rather than pushing blame everywhere else. Just not a good look. My CPU works and doesn't crash now it's just at 5.0 GHz. Already working a ton of hours and like for my things to work as advertised.

Have you tried turning off xmp etc to make sure it's your CPU? Because of the news that broke out a lot of people crashing these days think it's caused by the same issue. Your 13700k is one of the least likely CPUs to have these issues, since from all the 700k / 900k it's the one with the lowest clockspeeds.

Recent motherboard bioses will crash at stock even though your CPU has no issue. Happened to both my 12900k and 14900k.

 

[Taslios]

Also, in many cases, when you do a RMA, you'll get a refurb unit in return. A complaint you often see is that a nearly new hard drive fails and instead of a new replacement, the manufacturer sends them a refurb drive that might be a lot older than the one which failed.

How does one Refurb a CPU? AMD used to fix bent pins and stuff... but this is not the same, the issue is in the actual silicon which cannot be repaired. I suspect there is no such thing as Refurbed replacement CPUs here.

 

[bit_user]

How does one Refurb a CPU?

I didn't say these would be refurbs... I just thought I'd mention about refurbs while were were on the topic of warranty replacements. In this case, I expect they'll be new (but who knows?).

In the event that we were talking about a CPU model not subject to degradation, then perhaps a refurb CPU could be a viable option for warranty replacement. In the case of CPUs, I'd take "refurb" to mean it would have its heatspreader and contacts thoroughly cleaned and have gone through a series of validation & burn-in tests to ensure it's functioning properly.

 

[helper800]

To further @bit_user 's point, a refurbished CPU would be any CPU that is sent in to Intel or AMD that is deemed good enough to either sell or replace an existing RMA CPU with. They fix whatever it is that can be fixed on fixable CPUs and then do QC testing on it. CPUs sent in will range from completely shorted or physically damaged beyond repair to perfectly functional.

 

[bit_user]

CPUs sent in will range from completely shorted or physically damaged beyond repair to perfectly functional.

Yeah, sometimes people return stuff that's not actually broken - either they misdiagnosed the problem or they returned it for other reasons. This is especially true of returns done through a retail or online store's return policy.

 

[Taslios]

To further @bit_user 's point, a refurbished CPU would be any CPU that is sent in to Intel or AMD that is deemed good enough to either sell or replace an existing RMA CPU with. They fix whatever it is that can be fixed on fixable CPUs and then do QC testing on it. CPUs sent in will range from completely shorted or physically damaged beyond repair to perfectly functional.

Well if some of the stuff Steve from GN found is true... do we trust Intel to even look at them or will they just repack dead dies

... i'm hoping the answer is no

 

[bit_user]

Well if some of the stuff Steve from GN found is true... do we trust Intel to even look at them or will they just repack dead dies

... i'm hoping the answer is no

I expect their warranty remains in effect after your first RMA. So, they have an incentive not to simply turn around another CPU that's likely going to be RMA'd before the warranty period expires.

 

[thestryker]

Well if some of the stuff Steve from GN found is true... do we trust Intel to even look at them or will they just repack dead dies

... i'm hoping the answer is no

I would like to point out that literally nothing in that video gave any example of Intel sending out broken replacements (beyond of course the actual problem going on with RPL). It was all really just a litany of typical bad giant corporation behavior.

 

[greymaterial]

I am just curious, how can it work if intel is replacing with refurbished cpu for RMA? is it like if i have 13700k, they could return a used but tested "fine" 13900k with 2 gracemont clusters disabled? if it is 13900KS RMA then they can only replace with new cpu otherwise it is degraded inside anyway.

 

[beyondlogic]

wouldn't trust intel's cpus with a 20 foot pole at this point. im not shocked that there's instability in these chips as they just kept pushing the power limits. that and the other messes.

 

[helper800]

I am just curious, how can it work if intel is replacing with refurbished cpu for RMA? is it like if i have 13700k, they could return a used but tested "fine" 13900k with 2 gracemont clusters disabled? if it is 13900KS RMA then they can only replace with new cpu otherwise it is degraded inside anyway.

Intel could send you anything that is at least equivalent and functions. You could get any number of devices from intel that are 13700k or higher sku with or without disabled cores. As long as it has the functional equivalent or better, they can send it to you, used, new or modified.

 

[YSCCC]

I am just curious, how can it work if intel is replacing with refurbished cpu for RMA? is it like if i have 13700k, they could return a used but tested "fine" 13900k with 2 gracemont clusters disabled? if it is 13900KS RMA then they can only replace with new cpu otherwise it is degraded inside anyway.

Usually back in the days.. (and I mean really the good old days...) they used to say, discontinued a CPU with same socket, will replace with equivalent performance or usually much more performing chips as a compensation, I believe in good will intel would still do similar, but I doubt given how long the RPL chips have been exposed to elevated voltages for 90% or more sold CPUs out there they will have remotely enough chips to do RMA.... in that sense I speculate they will have more "shady" RMAs trying to decline or kick around abit before they can really send out something working

 

[AntonyLovric]

It's kind of a crappy announcement, the extended warranty is only for boxed processors, not tray ones. Anyone getting a processor in a pre-built / large vendor custom computer will most likely not get the extended warranty. I just bought my daughter a gaming rig for college (she's going into game development) and we're waiting for Intel to release the microcode fix (fingers crossed the fix doesn't neuter / impact the performance).

BTW - Full disclosure, long time Intel fanboy, been running Intel since my 486 DX 33 (with one brief journey into AMD with a DX4/100). I had a Pentium P60 processor with the floating point error that Intel replaced with a new boxed replacement (1996 or so?).

Edit: -Fran- commented that tray processors are included in the warranty extension, I've stricken out my comment concerning the warranty.

 

[-Fran-]

It's kind of a crappy announcement, the extended warranty is only for boxed processors, not tray ones. Anyone getting a processor in a pre-built / large vendor custom computer will most likely not get the extended warranty. I just bought my daughter a gaming rig for college (she's going into game development) and we're waiting for Intel to release the microcode fix (fingers crossed the fix doesn't neuter / impact the performance).

BTW - Full disclosure, long time Intel fanboy, been running Intel since my 486 DX 33 (with one brief journey into AMD with a DX4/100). I had a Pentium P60 processor with the floating point error that Intel replaced with a new boxed replacement (1996 or so?).

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-com...ps-list-includes-core-i5-i7-and-i9-processors

They've tried to clarify their position now. May want to update your information and draw a new conclusion.

Regards.