What exactly did Intel do to their latest CPUs? What was the fault and what was their thinking regarding getting away with it?

Question

I’ve seen 4 videos from tech channels just chastising Intel’s communication, I can’t seem to find a concise source for the actual facts of the fiasco.

In: Technology

Answer 1

Intel fucked up their “microcode”. Microcode handles CPU power usage on the physical level.

Imagine your CPU like a city built entirely out of factories, and those factories need constantly fluctuating amounts of power to run properly.

Now imagine if the power grid would, every now and then, accidentally randomly send so much power to a factory that it burns down, destroying that factory’s ability to contribute to your city, forever. It’s permanent damage.

That’s what is happening to Intel CPUs