If you are a gamer, or you do video production/editing, you probably have a desktop PC with a high-end processor and an expensive video card. Intel has apparently been screwing over people who need those high-end processors.
And that $800 dollar, or more, price tag is only for the CPU, not the full computer. And it could be a lot more than $800. That price is before you add a motherboard, case, power supply, graphics card, cooling system, display, etc. Just for some ballpark idea, MetaPC has ready to ship systems in the $2200 to $4000 range that would use these kinds of chips.
Intel knows it has problems. It is continuing to ship the CPUs with these problems, and when people have systems that crash, Intel is basically saying, "Sorry 'bout your luck. No refunds."
This issue isn't limited to gamers, of course. You would also have this issue if you're a company that is running a whole bunch of virtual machines, for yourself, or your customers. Some of the cloud providers fall into that category. The first story I saw included a statement from ModelFarm visual effects studio. A supervisor said that half of their Intel-based servers had failed while doing Unreal Engine tasks (game developer and 3D graphics stuff) and Feature Film VFX.
As I covered previously, the problems that Intel has with some of its high end chips come in two flavors. In some cases a manufacturing problem left them subject to excessive corrosion, and deterioriation. (They fixed that, but didn't recall the bad chips.) In a lot of cases, under certain circumstances, those high-end processors will request enough voltage from the motherboard to fry the chips. They are working on releasing a fix - an update to the microcode - by the middle of the month.
And it turns out that the problem actually reaches down into a some of their more mid-range chips as well, in the 65 watt neighborhood, though I don't think those have gotten as much attention as the people who paid $1000 per chip were giving the issue at the high end.
And since Intel is basically saying "It's not our problem; we're not refunding anything" there is a law suit in the works. Intel class action lawsuit investigation begins for the company's CPU crashing and instability issues
Intel stock went down on Monday, but then so did most every other stock. Intel stock also went down on Friday, because some of this is beginning to percolate up to the awareness of stock analysts. It is hard to ignore a class action lawsuit, and the details of that suit.
Intel announced about a week ago that some 13th- and 14th-Generation Core processors can become unstable due to elevated voltages, which a patch due in mid-August should fix. The company promised to respect all RMAs, so all damaged CPUs should be replaced. The issue doesn't just impact the higher-end models — Intel says the instability bug also impacts mainstream 65W CPUs.
Mutahar as SomeOrdinaryGamers has video a video on the subject. Intel Is In Serious Trouble... It's 21 and a half minutes, so plan accordingly.
Intel is leaving you Out To Dry, with its most expensive product line out there. It's not like this is a manufacturing defect in an entry-level product line, that maybe some could understand; this is in the highest-end, enthusiast lineup. And That is just downright insulting, because those are the kind of people that are going to spread the worst possible message, rightfully so, about your company. So yeah, F*&# Intel; it's imploding.
Yikes!
ReplyDeleteIntel has had problems in the past (FDIV, and so many others), but has usually, eventually, gotten its act back together. Sounds like it's back to the bad old days again.
The last two generations of my workstation used Intel processors, after many years of AMD, because in my price range Intel had gotten to be the better value proposition. Now I'm starting to ponder something new, with a bigger, faster CPU for crunching FPGA compilations... and it sounds like I should probably be looking at AMD again.
(Miscellaneous PCs remain Intel, because used Dell small-form-factor boxes with lower-range CPUs are crazy cheap.)
AMD had problems a few years back. The halted sale of the chips in question, pulled back inventory that was in the retail pipeline, and made good on the problem when the fix was released.
DeleteEverybody makes mistakes. It's what you do to recover from the mistake that's important. Intel made one mistake - the corrosion thing - and was denying it existed, for a while anyway. Now that they've been found out about that AND about the voltage issue, they and can't deny there is a problem. Their reaction to this situation is a PR disaster.
I've had issues with Intel's business practices since the 8-bit days; technical problems aside, they've done some downright obnoxious stuff (like claiming copyright on instruction mnemonics), and gotten in legal & financial trouble repeatedly.
DeleteSome companies (see also: Microsoft, Google, etc.) have a monopoly-based business model, and, in pursuit of monopoly (plus diversification via buy-outs of smaller, innovative companies), eventually lose the core competency that put them there in the first place.
And here I am still holding some Intel stock, left over from my long-ago college fund. Never has recovered from the end of Dot-Com Bubble 1.0 back in 2000, and now it's taken yet another huge hit. Good thing I don't have an immediate need to liquidate it!