Intel allegedly has 'stock availability issues' for Core i9-13900K and 14900K CPUs (Updated)
But it has plenty of time to replace the faulty units.
Update 9/5 02:05 PDT
Intel has responded to our request for comment.
“Intel confirms that replacement stock for RMA requests on Intel Core 13th and 14th Gen desktop processors is sufficient to address customer demand and apologizes for the miscommunication indicating otherwise. We appreciate our customers’ patience as we continue to process RMA requests as quickly as possible for Intel Core 13th and 14th Gen desktop processors.”
Original story
Intel is reportedly running out of replacements for its faulty range-topping Core i9-13900K/14900K 'Raptor Lake' processors, according to a Reddit post citing Intel customer support. The alleged response from Intel does not refuse to replace failed CPUs, but says that at least some customers in some parts of the U.S. will have to wait three or four weeks to get their replacements.
"Due to stock availability issues, we don't have an actual or same-part replacement available for the reported unit, Intel Core i9-13900K processor, as well as a higher but compatible replacement, and normally it would take 4 to 5 weeks or more before our stocks are replenished," a supposed letter from Intel customer support reads. "We'd like to know if you're willing to wait 3-4 weeks while we check with our planning team about stock replenishment."
We have reached out to Intel for an official comment and we will update this story once we have it.
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It should be noted that other customers replying in the same thread said that they got their Core i9-13900K/14900K replacements okayed in a short while both in the U.S. and Europe. Yet, there were customers confirming that Intel sent them notifications about running out of spare Core i9-13900K/14900K parts as well as owners of the said processors advising the author of the thread to get a refund instead, or at least ask how the process work to make Intel more inclined to offer a replacement CPU.
Considering the fact that Intel has extended warranty period for its 13th and 14th Generation Core 'Raptor Lake' processors by two years about a month ago, the company will have plenty of time to replace all the faulty parts encountered by its clients, so there is nothing to worry about. However, three to four weeks without a PC is a trouble for many people as desktop machines are used not only to play games, but also for work.
Intel disclosed in July that some 13th- and 14th-Generation Core processors may become unstable and eventually damaged due to high voltages. The bug affects not only high-end models with processor base power of 125W or higher, but also mainstream 65W CPUs, which are sold in tens of millions of units inside mainstream PCs. While a BIOS patch should fix the problem for healthy CPUs, they cannot fix damaged processors, which is why Intel is replacing them.
Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.
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Eximo Reply
No, probably fielding a lot of RMA replacements and being unable to restock retailers.Amdlova said:Intel is selling well the Hot potato chip lol! -
graywolfman So, here's my experience:Reply
I was watching closely as all of the issues were happening and my computer was beginning to become unstable. Once they released the microcode update I installed the beta BIOS from ASUS - which ended up being the final version, anyway. My stability issues continued, memtest86 showed failures on two different sets of RAM that are two different speeds from two different manufacturers.
I finally put in a case with Intel which sat for a week with no progress. I called Intel's hotline and pressed the button to get a call back, which never happened. The next day I called early in the morning, as soon as they opened, and sat on hold for 5 hours and 18 minutes before someone answered. After speaking with them for a couple minutes, the agreed my processor was faulty, as I supplied multiple blue screen codes, memtest results, a CRC error when unpacking Nvidia drivers, and proof of purchase in the original ticket. I used Task Manager to set processor affinity for the Nvidia drivers and found two of them that failed every single time.
The person on the phone said they were sending my ticket up to level two. After another few days of no response, I got on Intel's chat who then asked if I would like to cross-ship or send mine back first. I chose cross-shipping, which caused another delay is they had to wait for the warranty people to get a hold of me for the next steps. I had the i9-13900K and they said they were out of stock on that and asked if it was okay if they sent me the 14900K, to which I agreed. After a few more days, they reached out, and I provided payment information to have a hold put on my card for the MSRP of the processor.
I just got my processor yesterday and put it in last night, running memtest overnight with no errors. I am reinstalling my operating system today just to be safe and hoping the processor continues working well as they work on their next microcode update for September.
What a frustrating mess Intel has created for themselves! -
TheHerald Reply
This part is very interesting. Do you have any idea which ones they are? Are you savvy with the bios? Intel chips have 2 cores selected as the "best cores" which are the ones that boost to the 6ghz, you can see which cores those are from the bios. If the 2 cores failing are the 2 with the ST boost then clearly the ST boost is the issue that degrades the chips.graywolfman said:used Task Manager to set processor affinity for the Nvidia drivers and found two of them that failed every single time.
But good thing you got your 13900k upgraded to a 14900k, kudos to Intel, awesome support. -
TheHerald Reply
Probably they'll send you a lower tier replacement until one is available.Giroro said:What happens if you tell them you are not willing to wait? -
setx Reply
Are you joking? Having to sit 5+ hours on the phone and the rest described is bad support in my definition.TheHerald said:kudos to Intel, awesome support. -
mac_angel I'm kinda curious if the new CPUs that they are making will be fixed, or if it's a BIOS only fix.Reply -
Eximo Replymac_angel said:I'm kinda curious if the new CPUs that they are making will be fixed, or if it's a BIOS only fix.
They will certainly ship with the appropriate microcode already loaded to the CPU. BIOS update, or even a Windows update, is just a method of getting the microcode out there.
I suppose it is possible they will make a new stepping of the CPU with lessons learned.