Intel has confirmed that it’s about to issue another microcode update for its 13th-gen and 14th-gen Raptor Lake CPUs, meaning you’ll need to update your motherboard BIOS again. As with the raft of Intel CPU updates issued at the end of 2024, this one again addresses Vmin Shift Instability, where the CPU voltage can fluctuate to unsafe levels, despite Intel saying it had fixed the issue in 2024.
While the performance of the Intel Core i9 14900K means it’s still happily sitting on our guide to the best gaming CPU, this range of processors has been hit hard by stability problems, particularly in games based on the Unreal Engine. If you’ve been experiencing errors in games saying your system is out of VRAM, despite having loads of memory on your graphics card, then you’ve very probably experienced this Intel stability issue and will need to apply the latest update.
The new microcode update is called 0x12F, and will be appearing in a firmware download for your Intel LGA1700 motherboard shortly. If you’ve never done this before, then check out our guide on how to update your BIOS, which takes you through the whole process of flashing the firmware on your motherboard.
In its statement on the new update, Intel insists that the release of this new microcode update “does not alter the root cause determination for the Intel Core 13th and 14th Gen desktop processor Vmin Shift Instability issue,” and that the new microcode simply addresses “a limited number of reports regarding systems continuously running for multiple days with low-activity and lightly-threaded workloads.”
Intel also says that you’ll experience “no measurable performance impact” on your system after applying the update, based on its tests using a Core i9 14900K in a number of games, including Cyberpunk 2077, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Hitman 2: Dartmoor, and Total War: Warhammer III – Mirrors of Madness.
Intel hasn’t covered itself in glory in the PC gaming space lately, with its 13th-gen and 14th-gen Raptor Lake CPUs being plagued by stability problems and the need to apply several BIOS updates last year, while its new Arrow Lake CPUs were even slower in games than their predecessors, as I found in my Core Ultra 7 265K review. Even with the latest Intel CPU price drop, the company has a big game of catch-up to play with AMD now – you can read my Ryzen 7 9800X3D review to see why this is the gaming CPU of the moment.
If you’re thinking of upgrading to a new CPU, check out my guide to the best gaming motherboard to find a good home for your new chip, and check out my tutorial on how to install a CPU to make sure you fit it right as well.
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