Last August, Intel released a microcode update for the Raptor Lake-S and Raptor Lake-S Refresh processors. This update had an almost negligible impact on performance of the Intel Core Gen 13 and Core Gen 14, and aimed to solve excessive voltage problems that could end up affecting its stability and causing irreversible damage.
It seems that the update failed to completely resolve those issues, because Intel has had to release a new microcode patch identified as “0x12B.” This is necessary because the chip giant said it had identified new scenarios in which it could occur excessive voltage increase, and that this update would serve to solve them.
In the official statement, Intel assured that the impact of the “0x12B” update on the performance of the Intel Core Gen 13 and Core Gen 14 processors was going to be minimal, so much so that it would be within the margin of error between different test runs. This means that It would be a maximum of 1%, and that this applies to different tests, such as Cinebench R23, Crossmark, Speedometer and others.
The first performance testing of the Core Gen 13 and Gen 14 with the “0x12B” update confirm that, indeed, there is a loss of performance, and that this is greater than what Intel indicates, since in some cases can be up to 6.5%enough for a processor like the Intel Core i9-13900K to end up losing to the Ryzen 9 7950X.
Performance of the Intel Core Gen 13 and Gen 14 with the new microcode
In multi-threaded Cinebench R23 the Intel Core i9-14900K with the base profile achieves 37,331 points, and with the performance profile it reaches 39,882 points. When using the “0x12B” patch with the base profile the score is 37,310 points. We have a drop of 0.06%a minimal difference that matches what Intel said in its official statement.
The Intel Core i9-13900K with the base profile achieves 37,309 in that same test, and with the “0x12B” patch it remains at 37,276 points, also in multi-threaded Cinebench R23. The difference in this case is -0.09%, a value that also fits with Intel’s words.
In CPU-Z the Intel Core i9-14900K achieves 16,642 points in multithread and 906 in single thread with the base profile, and after applying the “0x12B” patch those values fall to 16,425 and 900respectively. The Intel Core i9-13900K also suffers a loss of performance with the base profile when applying the new patch, since it goes from 16,404 in multithreading to 16,006 points, but curiously It rises in monothread from 903 to 915 points.
I have told you about a drop of up to 6.5%and this at the moment seems to be the exception to the general rule, since we are seeing more contained falls in other tests. This result was obtained in Cinebench R15a fairly old performance test, where the Intel Core i9-13900K achieved a result of 314 points in single thread with the “0x12B” patch, when the normal thing is for it to be around 340 points.
The conclusion we can draw is that, for the moment, there is a small drop in performance, nothing particularly seriousbut if Intel is forced to continue launching updates of this type that continue to affect performance, a very negative effect could occur due to the accumulation of these small drops. Let’s hope this doesn’t happen.
Source: www.muycomputer.com
