9 Jan
2017
9 Jan
'17
2:28 p.m.
On 09.01.2017 23:07, Taiidan@gmx.com wrote:
Reasons to hate microcode updates:
- They enable companies to ship broken CPU's and fix them later thus a
CPU undergoes less testing (remember when software/games didn't have and worked fine without a day one patch?)
Well, I remember when a x86 CPU alone cost $1k. You should stop buying x86 if it's too cheap for your taste.
- Theoretically a nation state actor could screw around with a CPU and
have an internal microcode update to secure their own systems, or something else like that.
They can have that much more easier by flipping a secret bit somewhere.
- It is a black box (at least with intel) that is just another step of
the war on general purpose computing- the tivoization of hardware.
Might be, but that's not how it started / why we have microcode updates.
These are all good reasons not to buy a CPU that requires black-box updates. But not against applying the update if you have such a CPU.
Nico