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Bug found in Haswell/Broadwell CPU's. Microcode update to disable feature.

Notional
By Notional
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One of the big news in the Haswell architecture, announced in 2012, was an x86 extension called TSX, or Transactional Synchronization Extensions. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transactional_Synchronization_Extensions)

The point of TSX was to vastly increase performance on multithreaded applications, supporting TSX, using Hardware Lock Elision.

 

However an external software developor has discovered a bug (or errata, as Intel calls them), in the architecture. Intel has acknowledged the errata and will release a microcode update, that will disable TSX on ALL supported Intel Haswell processors. Unfortunately, the errata was discovered quite recently, and will be present in upcoming Broadwell Y-series processors as well.

 

The fast approaching Haswell-EP, wil have TSX be available for software developers to enable "for development purposes". This means Haswell-EP will be born with this errata as well, but unlocked for developers, for testing for upcoming Broadwell processors.

 

 

TSX was not supported on 4670K/4770K and R models, but was supported on Devil's Canyon.

 

DT_Haswell_i7_FB-580-90.jpg

 

Sources:

http://techreport.com/news/26911/errata-prompts-intel-to-disable-tsx-in-haswell-early-broadwell-cpus

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8376/intel-disables-tsx-instructions-erratum-found-in-haswell-haswelleep-broadwelly

 

Addendum:

 

SiSoftware, the company behind Sandra 2014 benchmark, has a nice article about TSX:

http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/?d=qa&f=ben_mem_hle

 

Although transactional memory is not yet widespread in usage, it should be an important tool in multithreaded software in the future.

Watching Intel have competition is like watching a headless chicken trying to get out of a mine field

CPU: Intel I7 4790K@4.6 with NZXT X31 AIO; MOTHERBOARD: ASUS Z97 Maximus VII Ranger; RAM: 8 GB Kingston HyperX 1600 DDR3; GFX: ASUS R9 290 4GB; CASE: Lian Li v700wx; STORAGE: Corsair Force 3 120GB SSD; Samsung 850 500GB SSD; Various old Seagates; PSU: Corsair RM650; MONITOR: 2x 20" Dell IPS; KEYBOARD/MOUSE: Logitech K810/ MX Master; OS: Windows 10 Pro

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... I don't get it.

is this good or bad?

INTEL CORE I5 4670K | NVIDIA GTX 980 | NOCTUA NH-L9i | GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-SLI | KINGSTON 120GB V300

CM STORM QUICKFIRE TK | BENQ XL2420TE | ROCCAT SAVU | FRACTAL DEFINE R4

 

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... I don't get it.

is this good or bad?

Same here.

My Rig :  Case: Cooler Master HAF X ,Motherboard: Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H,PSU: Seasonic SS-750KM3,Processor: Core I7 4770k (overclocked 4.7ghz),Cooler: Corsair H100i, GPU: EVGA GTX 780 with acx cooler, RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 16gb DDR3 1600 (overclocked to 2000mhz), HDDS  Samsung 840 EVO 250 gb SSD , Western digital  2tb 7200 rpm 64mb cache, Old 1tb laptop drive I had , 320gb for os backup daily, 80gb external for weekly backups,Drives 2x Lg Blu Ray burner WH16MS40,MISC: Tp-Link dual band wireless card, Logitech g510s, Razer Deathadder 2013, Acer G236HLBbd 23" monitor, Old tv I had 23" for secondary monitor, old 32" samsung tv third monitor

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I have known this for twqo days or so so I'm going to say that somebody is going to post REPOSTAVO in the next 10 minutes. 

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REPOSTAVO

 

Just for you Izaya Orihara

Specs: CPU - Intel i7 8700K @ 5GHz | GPU - Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 Gaming | Motherboard - ASUS Strix Z370-G WIFI AC | RAM - XPG Gammix DDR4-3000MHz 32GB (2x16GB) | Main Drive - Samsung 850 Evo 500GB M.2 | Other Drives - 7TB/3 Drives | CPU Cooler - Corsair H100i Pro | Case - Fractal Design Define C Mini TG | Power Supply - EVGA G3 850W

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I wonder.. Can I now return my i7 whitin warranty because it is not "working as intended"?

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I wonder.. Can I now return my i7 whitin warranty because it is not "working as intended"?

 No, your 4770k does not support TSX to begin with. Only devil's canyon K models do.

Watching Intel have competition is like watching a headless chicken trying to get out of a mine field

CPU: Intel I7 4790K@4.6 with NZXT X31 AIO; MOTHERBOARD: ASUS Z97 Maximus VII Ranger; RAM: 8 GB Kingston HyperX 1600 DDR3; GFX: ASUS R9 290 4GB; CASE: Lian Li v700wx; STORAGE: Corsair Force 3 120GB SSD; Samsung 850 500GB SSD; Various old Seagates; PSU: Corsair RM650; MONITOR: 2x 20" Dell IPS; KEYBOARD/MOUSE: Logitech K810/ MX Master; OS: Windows 10 Pro

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 No, your 4770k does not support TSX to begin with. Only devil's canyon K models do.

Oh ok then.

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its kinda a bad thing.. this will disable a helpful feature because it didnt work correctly :c

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