The legal action, initiated by Mark Vanvalkenburgh of Orchard Park, New York, seeks class-action status and could potentially involve many affected consumers.
The lead plaintiff, Vanvalkenburgh, claims he encountered severe issues with his Intel Core i7-13700K processor, which he purchased from Best Buy in January 2023.
The complaint states, “After purchasing the product, the Plaintiff learned that the processor was defective, unstable, and crashing at high rates.”
Vanvalkenburgh described random screen blackouts and unexpected restarts on his computer, which persisted despite applying an Intel patch for the 13th-generation processors.
The suit references various media reports and social media posts dating back to December 2022, documenting widespread complaints about the 13th and 14th generation chips, collectively known as “Raptor Lake.”
Reports describe unexplained failures, instability, and an unusually high rate of returns, suggesting Intel may have been aware of the problem.
The complaint claims, “By late 2022 or early 2023, Intel knew of the defect. Through these tests, Intel became aware of the defect in the processors.”
Despite these issues, Intel allegedly continued to promote the speed and performance of its products without disclosing potential defects. The complaint accuses the chipmaker of fraud by omission, breach of implied warranty, and violations of New York’s consumer protection laws.
In a July 2024 forum post, Intel publicly acknowledged an issue affecting the stability of specific 13th and 14th-generation processors.
Intel attributed the instability to an elevated operating voltage. According to Hannaford, the elevated voltage stems from a microcode algorithm that miscalculates voltage requests to the processor, leading to instability.
Intel further clarified the issue in September, identifying it as "Vmin Shift Instability." The chipmaker explained that this instability is caused by a vulnerable clock tree circuit within the IA core that can degrade over time when exposed to elevated voltage and temperature, resulting in system instability.
Chipzilla has since issued three microcode patches: an initial patch in June adjusted the Enhanced Thermal Velocity Boost (eTVB) algorithm, followed by updates in August and September to prevent excessive voltage requests by the processor, even when idle or under light load.
The company has extended the warranty for specific affected chips by two years and introduced a support program in August, with further details added in September.
Chipzilla’s response has not yet fully alleviated consumer frustration, and this case could have far-reaching implications for both the company and the consumers who invested in its processors.
