A Reminder from AMD: Our Processors Aren't Affected by New "SPOILER" Vulnerability

[STEM]

I smell some Intel stock owners in this thread. Back on topic perhaps?

Yes Sir! Abso-f-ing-lootely Sir!

Here is Intel's response to their latest f#ckup:

Intel received notice of this research, and we expect that software can be protected against such issues by employing side channel safe development practices. This includes avoiding control flows that are dependent on the data of interest. We likewise expect that DRAM modules mitigated against Rowhammer style attacks remain protected. Protecting our customers and their data continues to be a critical priority for us and we appreciate the efforts of the security community for their ongoing research.

That's corporate doublespeak for not assuming any kind of liability. It's the developer's responsibility to work around their shitty memory subsystem implementation, while they watch out for the other vulnerabilities, to make sure that their software doesn't compromise any data. Oh, and the memory manufacturers as well. Would such douchebaggery qualify Intel now as the ultimate corporate douchebags in the IT industry, or is there anything else that needs to pile on here?

Intel deserves their own Dos Equis commercial: "We are the most powerful CPU manufacturer in the world. We rarely screw up, but when we do, we send shockwaves through history while shacking the industry at its core. Stay patched our friends, we're not liable for your data loss!"

 

[Krenum]

Thanks AMD. Stop making me want to replace me insecure skylake with a ryzen

My 6700K's day's are numbered.

 

[naib]

And difficult to do software mitigations, nothing will completely get rid of the vulnerability.

yes, switch to AMD

 

[STEM]

My 6700K's day's are numbered.

You should get some nice money for it on eBay, enough to buy a nice Ryzen CPU

And difficult to do software mitigations, nothing will completely get rid of the vulnerability.

It even has it's own Wikepida page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPOILER_(vulnerability)

From that page:

As of March 2019, Intel had not created a CVE identifier for the SPOILER vulnerability.

I guess someone needs to remind Intel that "denial" is not just a river in Egypt.

If you want to know how bad this is, just google "Intel Spoiler" and plenty of results will pop up. There is no real way to fix a shitty memory subsystem via software patches... unless you want to give the middle finger to performance.

I'm not a religious person, however, I think that God doesn't favor Intel. So if you're working on that new parts list for your next system, maybe buying Intel isn't such a great choice at the moment.

Some have asked if Intel didn't know about their own in-silicon security flaws. Sure they did, as their silicon goes through rigorous internal auditing, however, most of these flaws are the result of corner cutting for performance gains. Sadly no one will hold Intel accountable until we either get a huge data breach or some other catastrophe happens due to these in-silicon security flaws. But hey, if you're an Intel fan, keep feeding them money. I know I did by buying a lot of their products over the last ~25 years or so. I'm not sorry about it, I just wish that they would be a more open and honest company.

As to "no one ever got fired for buying Intel or IBM", well, that will change to "no one ever got fired for buying IBM" sooner or later.

 

[Krenum]

You should get some nice money for it on eBay, enough to buy a nice Ryzen CPU

It'll probably end up going to my dad to replace his i5 2500K. But yes, Zen 2 will be my next CPU.

 

[STEM]

It'll probably end up going to my dad to replace his i5 2500K. But yes, Zen 2 will be my next CPU.

I think that my Intel critique will end here with this post due to: https://www.hardocp.com/article/2019/03/19/goodbye_hardocp_hello_intel/

I don't know if I have time to edit all my posts that I can edit, but I sure will not utter another peep about them. I promise that from now on I will pretend to be a good Intel customer and a decent fanboy. /s

I have been an Intel user since cca. 1995, and have used both Intel and AMD CPUs in my systems over the years, usually both of them in different systems. I was always critical of either when they messed up.

I hope that Intel is honest in their intentions to reconnect with us enthusiasts. Better priced CPUs would be a good start. After all, that's how computer enthusiasm started way back when with the desire to get better performance and the latest tech for less. Something fun to play with, without having to spend an arm and a leg for that piece of tech.

 

[killroy67]

yes, switch to AMD

I did!

 

[/dev/null]

The big 3 get better deals from Intel most likely, and then it's the entire brand/image thing. AMD just isn't as sexy (yet). Though I'm not partial to any company/corporation, I like to pick the best tool for the job that fits within my budget. I also don't like hardware that does not have a proven track record, though, with all of Intel's in-silicon security flaws that go back over a decade or more, it's kind of a weird conundrum to pick and choose what to install in a server. Do I roll the dice with Intel hoping that this is it, while paying 100% of the price for something that will have ~20% less performance when installed and deployed, or do I go with AMD, a newer architecture that was built from scratch with the long term in mind, and architecture that underwent the same scrutiny as Intel when it comes to searching for security flaws.

I'm specifically looking for stuff that competes with E5-1xxx xeons.

 

[THRESHIN]

My 6700K's day's are numbered.

I'm thinking the same, but I only upgrade out of necessity. Not because there's something better out there. By the time I'm done with my hardware, nobody wants it

Still, these security issues have me thinking twice. Haven't installed the BIOS updates just because I don't want to suffer the performance loss.

If AMD keeps going the way they are, they definitely have my money next time around.