Intel tacks two years onto Raptor Lake CPU warranty

Owners of Intel’s 13th and 14th Gen Core desktop processors are set to get an extra two years of warranty coverage.

Intel on Thursday announced its extended warranty program for its Raptor Lake PC chips on Reddit, increasing the length of its CPU warranty from three to five years.

Either the x86 titan expects so-called “instability” issues with the processors, which debuted in late 2022, to persist for a long while – and warranty replacements are better for the troubled biz than a mass recall – or it’s just trying to restore some confidence in its desktop offerings.

Chipzilla has not yet disclosed all the details of its extended warranty, and says it’ll spill the beans “in the coming days.” 

Intel also reiterated that users experiencing issues with 13th or 14th Gen Core processors should contact customer support, presumably to get a replacement. This is because the root cause of instability issues with the microprocessors, at least according to Intel, is faulty CPU microcode that raises the voltage too high. The Xeon maker promises a new microcode version to correct that this month.

Usually, more voltage means more stability when running at higher clock speeds, though excessive voltage can cause physical damage to CPUs to the point of death. Any Raptor Lake chips with physical damage won’t be fixed by new microcode; they need to be replaced. We’ve previously covered the Raptor Lake instabilities, which cause systems to repeatedly crash all by themselves or simply knackers the silicon.

Intel also admitted there were some manufacturing defects with early Raptor Lake batches, which stems from oxidized vias.

The biz claimed this is a minor issue unrelated to the elevated voltage problem and the upcoming microcode patch, noting it was actually addressed in early 2023. However, Intel admitted the affected chips weren’t fully removed from its supply chain until early 2024, which means retailers could have still been selling defective oxidized CPUs into this year.

The extended warranty may go some way toward staving off a potential class-action lawsuit that one party is exploring. ®