Mozilla's experienced platform engineer Gabriele Svelto recently discovered an interesting phenomenon: by following the geographical distribution of Firefox's airport reports, he was able to accurately identify the current hot areas of Europ...
Mozilla's experienced platform engineer Gabriele Svelto recently discovered an interesting phenomenon: by following the geographical distribution of Firefox's airport reports, he was able to accurately identify the current hot areas of Europe and the United States. Data shows that desktop computers equipped with Intel's 13th and 14th generation Core processors are particularly easy to operate in high temperature environments in summer, with a much higher chance than similar systems in relatively cool regions.
Svelto shared his discovery at Mastodon, pointing out that computers carrying Raptor Lake chips have seen a significant increase in failure rates during the hot wave period. The problem is serious that the Firefox team had to disable the automatic current reporting robot because it "almost only" received current reports from the Raptor Lake system.
(Source: Gabriele Svelto)
The root of this problem lies in the known microcode error that Intel admitted last year. On July 22, 2024, Intel confirmed that some 13th and 14th generation Core chips were shipped with defective microcodes that could cause voltage adjustment errors under reloads. When the CPU is subject to high load tasks, such as loading a large number of browser pages or streaming UHD videos, these tiny voltage waves become more visible at high environmental temperatures.
Svelto notes that these processors "have known timing/voltage problems and will become malignant when the temperature rises." In an office environment without air conditioning, 35 degrees Celsius, the computer cooling system may be able to handle general tasks, but when the browser performs intensive operations, the internal temperature of the CPU will rise by another 10 to 15 degrees, exposing a microcode sequence failure, causing the system to suddenly operate or corrode.
Intel Raptor Lake processors have been plagued by stability problems in the past. The company released a series of micro-updates last year to solve the ongoing problems, and the recent months also repaired the uncertainty of the "continuous operation for several days" machines. These wafers are deteriorated due to increased voltage, causing the system to be unstable and machined.
Intel 13th & 14th gen CPU owners might be crashing “because of the summer heat” says Firefox dev Extended reading: Intel found the CPU's machine reason, and the repair program was updated in August.
