Intel Finishes Spectre Patching, Some Older CPUs Not Included

rgMekanic

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A report from PCWorld states that Intel has finished with its microcode updates for the Spectre vulnerability found in its processors, however unfortunately, Intel has not provided updates for all of them. According to the Intel Microcode Revision Guidance paper, last updated April 2nd, Penryn (2007), Yorkfield (2007), Wolfdale (2007), Bloomfield (2008), Clarksfield (2009), Jasper Forest (2010), and Atom “SoFIA” (2015) will not be receiving microcode updates to patch the vulnerability. Intel's explanation?

After a comprehensive investigation of the microarchitectures and microcode capabilities for these products, Intel has determined to not release microcode updates for these products for one or more reasons including, but not limited to the following:
• Micro-architectural characteristics that preclude a practical implementation of features mitigating Variant 2 (CVE-2017-5715)
• Limited Commercially Available System Software support
• Based on customer inputs, most of these products are implemented as “closed systems” and therefore are expected to have a lower likelihood of exposure to these vulnerabilities


So there you have it. RIP Core 2, and 1st gen Core i processors. It's also worth noting that I still have to receive a BIOS update for my personal X99 machine. Our page is still up with a list of manufacturer pages for the BIOS updates, but most of them have been slow to update, if at all.
 
So glad someone decided to steal my 1st gen i3 laptop along with my other electrics so I don't have to worry about this.......
Oh wait I'm using a shitty core duo with 1GB and Vista for the time being......
 
ASUS' page hasn't been updated since 1/5 with zero mention of any plans to update BIOS' prior to 6th gen. Me and my 2500k/Z68 combo are not pleased...
 
This is much better (from Intel) than the initial support was supposed to be. I actually applaud that they've gone back as far as Sandy Bridge.

Intel has done their part, now for the mobo mfgs to get with it.
 
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Did we really expect Intel to come through? I didn't this is typical of companies now. Oh we are so sorry FU buy a new one so we can pull the same scam again..........
 
Wonder why the basic Ivy Bridge is missing? They have mobile, Server, Xeon, and Es but no plain Ivy Bridge. They have the basic Sandy Bridge listed.
 
This is a shame. I really feel that anything going back to the Core2 era should have been patched as those systems are still great systems for typical usage today. I run a Q9650 @ 4.4Ghz (Yorkfield) as my HTPC and I wouldn't be surprised at all if it still has another decade of life left in it. Even more funny is that my system with an i5-650 (Clarkdale) is apparently new enough to get a microcode update yet that Q9650 shits on that i5-650 in terms of performance.
 
Should I be checking from Asus's site for my H97i-Plus board? The latest BIOS is from 2016.
 
Isn't this a good thing? So you get to keep your performance.
 
They forgot one:

After a comprehensive investigation of the microarchitectures and microcode capabilities for these products, Intel has determined to not release microcode updates for these products for one or more reasons including, but not limited to the following:
• Micro-architectural characteristics that preclude a practical implementation of features mitigating Variant 2 (CVE-2017-5715)
• Limited Commercially Available System Software support
• Based on customer inputs, most of these products are implemented as “closed systems” and therefore are expected to have a lower likelihood of exposure to these vulnerabilities

• Intel is lazy, no fix for you. Go buy new.
 
Hmm.

3rd Generation Intel® Core™ Mobile Processor Family.
Does that include 3rd generation Intel Core processor? It isn't very clear.
 
Well that sucks. Here I am repurposing my i7860 for my parents and Intel says they're not going to fix the issue. Ford and GM must be looking at this and thinking, "How can we get away with not recalling cars that are a little older"? They really deserve a huge class action. How many billion dollars does it take to make Intel squirm?
 
I doubt I will ever see a BIOS update for my two Asus MoBos - Z77 Gene and Sabertooth.


Think about how many Z77's are out there, insane levels. I love ASUS we build mobos to last but sorry we never update them. HAHAHAHHAaaaaaaaaaaaaaa all the way to the bank.
 
Think about how many Z77's are out there, insane levels. I love ASUS we build mobos to last but sorry we never update them. HAHAHAHHAaaaaaaaaaaaaaa all the way to the bank.
I suspect there are a lot of Gen 1 i series CPUs out there. Honestly, my 860 was fine for virtually any desktop use (with the possible exception of some games, though I suspect most games are GPU bound). Hell, even lowly e6300s are perfectly capable of doing a lot of desktop work and are certainly capable of working as a home server, but I guess Intel is saying those CPUs are in rigs not connected to the internet. Hard to believe they're not fixing htis for CPUs that are clearly still in use.
 
I'm sure my Xeon X5672 won't be included. I've even checked the Dell site for my Precision T3500, nope.

It's old, I know. But I was hoping for better support.
 
Still kicking x58 here, AND running windows 7 (for various reasons).

Guess i'm doing a big no no.
 
Isn't this a good thing? So you get to keep your performance.

Even if Intel releases a Microcode update for your processor, you are still at the mercy of your motherboard manufacturer to release a BIOS update that includes it, and even then, you still have to actually update your BIOS.

So if you care more about your "performance" than your security, all you have to do is not update your BIOS. Nothing is forced. I'm not sure there is any situation where it's better to not even have the option.
 
Didn't MS say they were going to use this microcode to patch at the OS level, so everyone will still get them?
 
Why should this be handled differently than any other catastrophe we had. Beat it thru the news for 14 days and then FORGET IT !!!!!!!!! Cmon...FORGET IT... make room for new "news" that make new "headlines" and make "new" money.

Our Zeitgeist has no time for problems, we just FORGET them and ALL is good. Look Fukushima..it works !

Intel just adopts the Zeitgesit
 
Intel may have released the microcode, but motherboard OEM's are the ones that need to update their BIOS files. I doubt we'll see updates for anything older than Haswell-E.
 
Didn't MS say they were going to use this microcode to patch at the OS level, so everyone will still get them?

I hope so, I have a few different systems and I'm not sure when or where...if ever, BIOS updates will be issued.
 
Intel may have released the microcode, but motherboard OEM's are the ones that need to update their BIOS files. I doubt we'll see updates for anything older than Haswell-E.
not necessarily. The OS can sideload the uCode
 
I didn't read the list correctly. Looks like my Westmere X5672 actually will get the microcode patch. I'm quite surprised.
 
This is a shame. I really feel that anything going back to the Core2 era should have been patched as those systems are still great systems for typical usage today. I run a Q9650 @ 4.4Ghz (Yorkfield) as my HTPC and I wouldn't be surprised at all if it still has another decade of life left in it. Even more funny is that my system with an i5-650 (Clarkdale) is apparently new enough to get a microcode update yet that Q9650 shits on that i5-650 in terms of performance.
Performance is because the older is clocked so high and who the hell needs 4.4 clocked quad for an HTPC. A low cost new htpc build would be fine and you wouldnt notice a change.
 
Performance is because the older is clocked so high and who the hell needs 4.4 clocked quad for an HTPC. A low cost new htpc build would be fine and you wouldnt notice a change.

I've had great results re-purposing hardware from my former main systems for many uses (The Q9650 @ 4.4Ghz was in my main system for years). If all your "htpc" does is stream Netflix and Pandora then yeah, it probably doesn't even need to be a reasonably fast PC. For those of us who don't stream all of our content; some 4K rips can seriously eat CPU even when just skimming through the movie. Thankfully the Q9650 still gets it done.
 
On x99 taichi......not bios update :(
It came out a week after you posted this. I don't recall any of the Asrock updates mentioning Spectre/Meltdown specifically on the BIOS page. It just says microcode revision update and you can verify it's the fixed version by copy/pasting that into google and finding the Intel PR page that listed the fixed version for every core.
 
Thank God, I have been up their ass for a few fixes for this board... Fingers crossed it fixes memory channel issues as well.
 
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