Intel has been in hot water over the past couple of months as the Raptor Lake chip degradation issue transpired. While the latest 0x129 microcode patch update, as per Intel, resolves all related problems on new processors, OEMs mainly released this microcode through BIOS updates. As per a report by Phoronix, Intel is now packaging this microcode in the Linux Kernel, so users can easily install the update without tinkering with the BIOS.
The latest Intel Microcode 20241029 release for Linux includes this crucial patch alongside a few other fixes. However, users with already degraded processors will still have to pursue an RMA since their chip is likely cooked. A large part of this fix was to address the significant rise in the minimum voltage supplied to the CPU (Vmin), enforcing a hard 1.55V limit. This patch is part of an entire trilogy of microcodes and fixes, each aimed at solving a different problem.
