Intel’s BIOS updates for crashing CPUs are now rolling out

Asus and MSI have both released beta BIOS updates today to address Intel’s crashing 13th and 14th Gen Raptor Lake desktop processors. While the BIOS updates won’t fix CPUs that are already damaged, they include Intel’s new microcode update that should help further address the instability issues.

Asus has released its beta BIOS updates through its ROG forums for a variety of Z790 motherboards. These are also typically posted to Asus’ support pages a few days after they’re posted to its ROG forums. MSI’s BIOS updates can be found on the individual motherboard support pages for its motherboards:

While we wouldn’t normally recommend using a beta BIOS update, given that this addresses an “elevated operating voltages” issue, you might want to go ahead and install these as soon as possible.

If you use a board other than MSI and Asus, or the microcode BIOS update isn’t available for your particular motherboard right now, make sure you’re on the latest BIOS update either way. Even if they’re missing the latest fix, recent BIOS updates should already include Intel’s recommended power delivery profiles, which could reduce the likelihood of your chip getting damaged.

“Please help us get the word out to all Raptor Lake desktop users, especially i9 users, in big screaming headlines that they need to update their PC to the latest BIOS now to stop/prevent the CPU wear and hopefully avoid the need for an RMA,” said Falcon Northwest founder Kelt Reeves in an email to The Verge earlier this week.

If you have an Asus board and want to check that your BIOS is set to the right power profile, Falcon Northwest has a good overview we’ve embedded below. The very latest Asus BIOS updates should already default to Intel’s settings instead of the company’s own overclocking profile.

Intel reportedly said these BIOS updates shouldn’t cause any performance loss, and reviewers are already gearing up to test Intel’s latest microcode to ensure there are no big changes for its 13th and 14th Gen chips.

We’re also still waiting on Intel to provide a tool to test existing machines for any processor degradation. Intel has also extended its warranty on a variety of 13th and 14th Gen CPUs by an additional two years. PC makers are largely passing on that warranty extension to consumers, and you can find out if your own system is covered right here.