Intel confirms issue with Skylake processors that freezes computer; develops a patch
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A bug has been discovered in Intel Skylake processors that causes the system to freeze. The chipmaker has acknowledged the bug and has also found a fix for it. The company is currently working with hardware partners to distribute the patch via a BIOS update.
A bug was discovered in Intel’s Skylake processors line that causes the system to freeze when handling complex workloads. First discovered by hardwareluxx.de community, the bug would trigger when GIMPS Prime95 application was used to find Mersenne primes.
In short, if you have a Skylake processor-powered laptop or desktop, you’re likely unaffected unless you use the said suite. It is currently unknown if any other application — perhaps resource intensive — also triggers the issue. If you work in either a scientific or financial industry, however, odds are you could be affected. Intel believes that the issue is only faced when using GIMPS Prime95 application.
“Intel has identified an issue that potentially affects the 6th Gen Intel Core family of products,” the firm told Ars Technica in a statement. “This issue only occurs under certain complex workload conditions, like those that may be encountered when running applications like Prime95. In those cases, the processor may hang or cause unpredictable system behaviour.”
It’s worth noting that said suite works fine on other Intel processors. In the meanwhile, Intel has acknowledged the bug, adding that it is working with PC manufacturers to push the patch via a BIOS update.
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