4 ms·

They will update 90% of the chips 5 years old or newer, which I assume includes Ivy Bridge and later. But the bug affects older chips, too. Important to keep th

by mtgx 9y ago

They will update 90% of the chips 5 years old or newer, which I assume includes Ivy Bridge and later. But the bug affects older chips, too. Important to keep that in mind.

frandroid 9y ago
I don't know why you're being downvoted; it's crucial that Intel patches this deficiency for all CPU models which are currently in use, which is pretty much all of them, since some systems work nearly forever. We're talking about going back 15 years or so? I mean this is like the Y2K bug, in that every system needs to have its CPU verified to ensure that it's covered by the patches, otherwise the system should be shut down and a new CPU provided. Since many of these CPUs have sockets for which CPUs are not produced anymore, whole new systems will have to be purchased. Of course this might the result Intel wants to achieve.
- frou_dh 9y ago
  I imagine most laptop and motherboard vendors have precisely zero interest in locating/dusting-off whatever toolchains are required to mint new BIOSes for long discontinued products.
mlvljr 9y ago
And who of you lads downvoted this?
benjaminl 9y ago
The actual quote is: > Intel has already issued updates for the majority of processor products introduced within the past five years. By the end of next week, Intel expects to have issued updates for more than 90 percent of processor products introduced within the past five years. The post is silent on what will be done with older chips, it didn't say that they are not going to be updated. It makes sense that Intel prioritizes the newer chips.
- ddebernardy 9y ago
  It makes sense but 5-10 year old laptops aren't uncommon nowadays. Had this occurred 20 years ago nobody would have cared because computers would get replaced super fast anyway. Nowadays, even a geeky household can have 5+ year old CPUs lying around and still used.
  - hug 9y ago
    Anecdotally: I game, compile, transcode, and do any other number of CPU-intensive tasks on my machine. My household is definitely "geeky". I still run an i7 2600k, which is a Sandy Bridge CPU introduced 7 years ago. I don't (didn't? may not?) have any pressing reason to upgrade, although I was considering it. Funnily enough, even before now I was considering the AMD Zen architecture, and although I'm still undecided I'm being pushed further and further towards AMD through ethical considerations alone.
    - gcbirzan 9y ago
      You won't need a microcode update. The microcode update is only needed for Broadwell and newer (for those, retpolines don't work). Also, hello, fellow 2600k owner :D
- flukus 9y ago
  Some careful wording there. I'm guessing that "introduced" means when they initially went on sale or something like that. I'd like to know what percentage of systems sold to consumers 2-3 years ago had processors that were "introduced" 5 or more years ago. It's similar to the absurdly short supported lifetime of many phones, they support them for "2 years after release" but in many cases people are still buying them brand new 2 years after release.
- gcbirzan 9y ago
  https://newsroom.intel.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2018/01/Intel-Analysis-of-Speculative-Execution-Side-Channels.pdf https://newsroom.intel.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2018/... - processors older than 5 years don't need a microcode update, and probably won't even benefit. The new instructions for preventing variant 2 is inferior to retpolines, even according to Intel...

by mtgx 9y ago

They will update 90% of the chips 5 years old or newer, which I assume includes Ivy Bridge and later. But the bug affects older chips, too. Important to keep that in mind.

frandroid 9y ago

I don't know why you're being downvoted; it's crucial that Intel patches this deficiency for all CPU models which are currently in use, which is pretty much all of them, since some systems work nearly forever. We're talking about going back 15 years or so? I mean this is like the Y2K bug, in that every system needs to have its CPU verified to ensure that it's covered by the patches, otherwise the system should be shut down and a new CPU provided. Since many of these CPUs have sockets for which CPUs are not produced anymore, whole new systems will have to be purchased. Of course this might the result Intel wants to achieve.

frou_dh 9y ago
I imagine most laptop and motherboard vendors have precisely zero interest in locating/dusting-off whatever toolchains are required to mint new BIOSes for long discontinued products.

mlvljr 9y ago

And who of you lads downvoted this?

benjaminl 9y ago

The actual quote is: > Intel has already issued updates for the majority of processor products introduced within the past five years. By the end of next week, Intel expects to have issued updates for more than 90 percent of processor products introduced within the past five years. The post is silent on what will be done with older chips, it didn't say that they are not going to be updated. It makes sense that Intel prioritizes the newer chips.

ddebernardy 9y ago
It makes sense but 5-10 year old laptops aren't uncommon nowadays. Had this occurred 20 years ago nobody would have cared because computers would get replaced super fast anyway. Nowadays, even a geeky household can have 5+ year old CPUs lying around and still used.
- hug 9y ago
  Anecdotally: I game, compile, transcode, and do any other number of CPU-intensive tasks on my machine. My household is definitely "geeky". I still run an i7 2600k, which is a Sandy Bridge CPU introduced 7 years ago. I don't (didn't? may not?) have any pressing reason to upgrade, although I was considering it. Funnily enough, even before now I was considering the AMD Zen architecture, and although I'm still undecided I'm being pushed further and further towards AMD through ethical considerations alone.
  - gcbirzan 9y ago
    You won't need a microcode update. The microcode update is only needed for Broadwell and newer (for those, retpolines don't work). Also, hello, fellow 2600k owner :D
flukus 9y ago
Some careful wording there. I'm guessing that "introduced" means when they initially went on sale or something like that. I'd like to know what percentage of systems sold to consumers 2-3 years ago had processors that were "introduced" 5 or more years ago. It's similar to the absurdly short supported lifetime of many phones, they support them for "2 years after release" but in many cases people are still buying them brand new 2 years after release.
gcbirzan 9y ago
https://newsroom.intel.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2018/01/Intel-Analysis-of-Speculative-Execution-Side-Channels.pdf https://newsroom.intel.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2018/... - processors older than 5 years don't need a microcode update, and probably won't even benefit. The new instructions for preventing variant 2 is inferior to retpolines, even according to Intel...