Intel confirmed today that the vulnerabilities patches Meltdown and Spectre for its processors it generates very big problems on computers that have newer components, although this theory was initially rejected. Initially those from Intel said that the problems of old processors, which generated random restarts of computers, it does not affect newer processors either, but today he confirmed that even these are affected.
Intel said that only computers with Broadwell and Haswell processors are affected by sudden restarts, but its engineers managed to reproduce the problem including on computers with Sky Lake and Kaby Lake processors. Even computers with Intel processors from the Ivy Bridge or Sandy Bridge series are not exempt from problems, so if you have a computer with such a processor, it would be good to avoid the Meltdown and Specter patches.
Intel stated that its engineers discovered the problem through in-house tests and that they are constantly working to discover its source and block it, so that users can use their computers without problems. Intel will provide its partners with patches in the beta version to test and see if the problem is solved, affecting the servers as well, so many hosting companies, and not only that, can be affected.
Intel confirms the problems of the new processors with the Meltdown and Specter patches
Intel also confirmed that for processors dedicated to servers there can be reductions of up to 25% in performance, this being a huge problem for companies that have invested huge sums in such components. Intel will work intensively with its partners to solve these performance problems, which also affect the computers of ordinary users, depending on what is done on them in daily use.
"As part of this, we have determined that similar behavior occurs on other products in some configurations, including Ivy Bridge-, Sandy Bridge-, Skylake-, and Kaby Lake-based platforms. We have reproduced these issues internally and are making progress towards identifying the root cause. In parallel, we will be providing beta microcode to vendors for validation by next week."
Intel and Microsoft failed to solve the problems of the processors without substantially reducing the performance of the computers, but those from Google boasted that they managed to do this on their Chromebooks. Google has not revealed the secret of solving the problems of Intel processors, so Microsoft will have to manage alone, the company already releasing some patches with problems, Intel initially not recognizing that everyone is affected.
Intel seems to have entered a "black hole" with these vulnerabilities of its processors, without there being any possible solution for them, at least not one that does not negatively affect the experience of using computers. Intel did not say when it could release new patches for processors that will also solve these problems with sudden restarts, so we will have to wait until the company announces their appearance.
