Intel has news – good, bad and ugly – about the Raptor Lake bug patch. Here's what you need to know

14th Generation Intel Core i7-14700K Processor — Intel

Intel on Friday released information about a patch for the microcode bug affecting 13th and 14th generation Intel Core processors, and the chipmaker’s news is a mix of the good, the bad and the ugly.

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The good news

According to Intel, the patch is being distributed to all partners and is specifically targeted at K, KF and KS processors. Intel is also investigating possible mitigations for systems already showing symptoms and expects to provide an update by the end of August. If your processor shows signs of damage, Intel advises replacing it.

Intel’s testing also shows that the patch does not affect system performance, so this is good news for gamers and anyone who wants the fastest system possible.

Intel states that “all future products will not be affected by this issue.”

The bad news

There is no information yet on whether mobile (laptop) chips of these generations are affected, so owners will have to wait and see. In addition, there is no easy way for owners of affected chips to determine if their processor is faulty and needs an update, other than manually checking the CPU model (using one of the methods I described here).

In addition, there is no official method for owners of crashing systems to clearly determine whether their chip is damaged or whether the system crash is due to another factor.

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And then there’s the part where Intel warns against overclocking these chips. While the update won’t prevent users from overclocking, it also warns that “overclocking may void the warranty and/or compromise system integrity” and recommends that owners “use Intel’s default settings.”

The bad news

The patch will only be available as part of a BIOS update, meaning owners will have to find, download and install the correct patch themselves. Distributing the patch via Windows Update would have made it available to a wider range of PC owners, not just those who know about the issue.