On Tuesday, the Federal Court of San Hose, California, a lawsuit was filed against Intel. The plaintiff, Mark Vanvalkenburg from Orchard Park, New York, alleges that Intel processors of the 13th and 14th generations released in 2022 and 2023 have defects that the company is attempting to conceal from consumers.
In January 2023, Vanvalkenburg purchased an Intel Core i7-13700K, only to encounter operational issues with the device. He claims that the processor was unstable, leading to frequent system malfunctions such as random screen shutdowns and computer reboots, which were not resolved even after installing a patch provided by Intel.
The lawsuit, potentially a class action, references reports in the media and social networks since December 2022 describing problems with Intel processors of the 13th and 14th generations, known as Raptor Lake. These reports cite system instability, unexpected failures, and an increase in product returns.
According to the complaint, Intel was aware of the defect by the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023 through pre and post-release testing. Despite this knowledge, the company continued to market its processors based on performance claims without disclosing the issues, which the lawsuit alleges as deceptive practices and violations of New York state laws.
In July 2024, Intel acknowledged the existence of problems and attributed the instability in some chips to increased operating voltage. Communications manager Thomas Hannaford explained that an analysis revealed a microcode algorithm error in requesting voltage for the processor, causing the issues.
In September, Intel published a detailed analysis of the problem identifying it as the “instability of the VMIN shift” – the minimum voltage required for proper processor operation. The company stated that the defect affected IA Core clock signals and resulted in reduced reliability under increased voltage and temperature conditions.
To address the problem