Intel Updates Microcode Binaries For Ice Lake On Linux

Written by Michael Larabel in Intel on 10 May 2020 at 06:58 AM EDT. 3 Comments
INTEL
Intel on Friday quietly released new Intel CPU microcode files for Linux.

Normally the "Intel Linux Processor Microcode Data Files" are updated in-step for all supported generations, but this new binary drop is limited to Ice Lake U/Y processors. Unfortunately, no change-log at hand for what has been shifted with this new CPU microcode drop for Linux users.

It's worth noting that this is the first Intel CPU microcode drop for Linux systems since the November release back when addressing the JCC Erratum bug. Since then they haven't released any new CPU microcode updates via their Intel-Linux-Processor-Microcode-Data-Files portal.

Though in this time there have been new CPU vulnerability disclosures needing microcode updates. Some motherboard vendors have shipped more recent microcode updates as part of updated system firmware / BIOS, but there hasn't been any new microcode file releases separate from that for Linux users in addressing this year's vulnerabilities needing microcode updates for mitigation.

I'll do some poking at this new Ice Lake microcode release and see if there are any performance ramifications. Those wanting the new release can grab it from Intel-Linux-Processor-Microcode-Data-Files.

UPDATE: Benchmarks of seemingly the newest Intel CPU performance hit.
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Michael Larabel is the principal author of Phoronix.com and founded the site in 2004 with a focus on enriching the Linux hardware experience. Michael has written more than 20,000 articles covering the state of Linux hardware support, Linux performance, graphics drivers, and other topics. Michael is also the lead developer of the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org automated benchmarking software. He can be followed via Twitter, LinkedIn, or contacted via MichaelLarabel.com.

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