Intel 13th or 14th gen instability: how to check for the fix and install it

What went wrong

In 2024 Intel found that its 13th and 14th gen desktop processors could ask for more voltage than they can take. Over months, that wears the chip. Intel calls it Vmin Shift Instability; to everyone else it looks like a PC that used to be fine and now crashes:

• games crashing, often while they load or compile shaders;
• errors that make no sense on a big graphics card, such as out of video memory in Unreal Engine games;
• blue screens, and programs that unpack or compress files reporting corrupt data.

Intel fixed the cause in the processor’s microcode, the firmware the processor runs inside itself. Microcode reaches a PC in a BIOS update from the motherboard or PC maker; Windows Update does not deliver it. The fix stops the wear, but it cannot undo wear already done, which is why it is worth installing before anything goes wrong.

Which processors

Intel Core i5, i7 and i9 13th and 14th gen desktop processors with a base power of 65 watts or more: the K, KF and KS models and most of the others. Intel says its laptop processors are not affected.

Some Core i5 models, such as the i5-13400 and i5-14400, were made on two different chips, and only one of them is affected. The check below shows which one you have.

Why games warn about it

Crash reports landing on game makers’ desks led some of them, World of Warcraft among them, to check for the fix when the game starts and show a warning without it. The warning is not a ban and not a virus. It goes away once the fix is installed; if it stays after a BIOS update, check that the BIOS version really changed (below).

1. Check whether your PC has the fix

Right-click the Start button, choose Terminal (or Windows PowerShell on Windows 10), paste this line and press Enter:

$k = Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System\CentralProcessor\0'; $r = $k.'Update Revision'; $v = [BitConverter]::ToUInt32($r, 0); if ($r.Length -ge 8 -and [BitConverter]::ToUInt32($r, 4)) { $v = [BitConverter]::ToUInt32($r, 4) }; "$($k.Identifier) - microcode 0x{0:X}" -f $v

It only reads what Windows already knows and changes nothing. You will see something like Intel64 Family 6 Model 183 Stepping 1 - microcode 0x12B:

You see	What it means
Model 183	The affected chip. Read the microcode below.
Model 191	The other chip some Core i5s use. Not affected.
Older than 0x129	No fix for the voltage problem. Update the BIOS soon.
0x129 to 0x12E	An earlier version of the fix, from 2024 or early 2025. Intel recommends updating to the current one.
0x12F or later	Intel’s current fix, from May 2025. Nothing to do.

To see the BIOS version itself, press Win+R, type msinfo32 and press Enter: BIOS Version/Date is near the top. Before and after an update, it is the quickest proof that the update took.

2. Install the fix

1. Find the newest BIOS. In the same msinfo32 window, BaseBoard Manufacturer and BaseBoard Product name the motherboard. On the maker’s support page for that exact board (and revision), take the newest BIOS that is not marked beta. Its notes should mention Intel microcode 0x12F or later; some makers write Vmin Shift instead. On a pre-built PC, use the maker’s own update tool, such as Dell SupportAssist, HP Support Assistant or Lenovo Vantage.
2. Get ready. If BitLocker or device encryption is on, have the recovery key to hand (it is usually in your Microsoft account). Write down any BIOS settings you changed: an update puts them back to their defaults.
3. Update. Copy the file to a USB stick and use the board’s own tool in the BIOS: Q-Flash (Gigabyte), EZ Flash (ASUS), M-Flash (MSI), Instant Flash (ASRock). Keep the power on until it finishes and the PC has restarted by itself, which can take a few minutes.
4. Set it back up. If the BIOS offers an Intel Default Settings profile, leave it selected: Intel recommends it alongside the fix. Then switch XMP or EXPO, and Resizable BAR, back on if you used them.
5. Check. Run the line from step 1 again: the microcode should now be 0x12F or later.

3. If it still crashes after the update

Then the processor may already be worn, and no update brings that back. Intel extended the warranty on boxed 13th and 14th gen processors by two years, to five in all, so most are still covered. Contact Intel’s support about a replacement, or the PC’s maker for a pre-built PC. Before you do, it is worth ruling out everything else that crashes games: how to stress test a PC, and what the results mean.

How Bottleneck checks this

Every scan reads the processor’s chip and its microcode, as above, and tells you when the fix is missing, with the BIOS version and the steps for your motherboard. The same check covers drives on firmware with a known fault, such as Samsung 980 PRO drives that can lock themselves read-only. The list of known faults is updated every month, so a PC scanned again is checked against new ones without installing anything.