Until Intel can prove to me that all x86 security mitigations are done in hardware sufficiently, instead of cycle/power/time wasting microcode fixups, I don't s

Until Intel can prove to me that all x86 security mitigations are done in hardware sufficiently, instead of cycle/power/time wasting microcode fixups, I don't see Intel ever being on the list, no matter how cheap it is. Your CPU doesn't have to be perfect, just your solution shouldn't be actively hostile.