Intel Admits Skylake Chips Freeze Under Heavy Workloads
Intel is admitting that its sixth generation processors, known as Skylake chips, can be overworked, causing a system to freeze up.
The Skylake processors were tested using the program Prime95 to check what processes they could handle and if they could pass the 768K test, Extreme Tech reports.
Testers noted that when these processors were overworked, they would fail the 768K test and could freeze up a user's system in as little as a few minutes or a few hours.
Using the maximum number of threads available on the processor while running Prime95 will eventually cause the system to crash, testers further revealed.
Intel responded with a statement, but the company seems to think that the issue is not that big of a deal and few end users will experience such problems.
"Intel has identified an issue that potentially affects the 6th Gen Intel Core family of products. This issue only occurs under certain complex workload conditions, like those that may be encountered when running applications like Prime95. In those cases, the processor may hang or cause unpredictable system behavior. Intel has identified and released a fix and is working with external business partners to get the fix deployed through BIOS," the statement reads.
Intel's fix might require users to stay away from complex codes like those found in Prime95.
The company's last major bug occurred in the early 1990s with their Pentium processors. The chips worked in almost all situations, but a certain incorrect value caused them to fail. Because of the bug, Intel saw bad press and was forced to take a $475 million charge against their earnings to resolve the issue.
Most chips are expected to work without errors and bugs, but perfect components are almost impossible. Intel will keep working to make their chips flawless, but errors are bound to occur, especially when extremely complex tasks are being performed.
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