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Intel says Meltdown / Spectre patch causes reboots in computers with newer processors too

Intel says Meltdown / Spectre patch causes reboots in computers with newer processors too

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Data center performance can degrade by up to 25 percent for certain workloads

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As we reported last week, Intel’s Meltdown and Spectre patch is causing reboot problems for older processors. Now Intel says the current firmware updates may be causing computers with newer chips to reboot more frequently as well. In a blog post, Intel VP Navin Shenoy said firmware-updated PCs with Ivy Bridge, Sandy Bridge, Skylake, and even Intel’s most recent Kaby Lake processors are all affected.

The patches can also impact performance, with Intel saying that data center tests simulating a stock exchange interaction and online transaction showed a 4 percent slowdown. Other testing of various server workloads showed a slowdown of as much as 25 percent. Shenoy wrote that Intel has issued firmware updates for 90 percent of its CPUs introduced over the past five years, but noted that the company had “more work to do.”

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich previously penned an open letter and promised to be more transparent about CPU and performance impacts. The Meltdown and Spectre security flaws affect nearly every computing device made in the past two decades.