OT: Of Core 2, Spectre... Intel draws the line.
tj_1ca9500b
Posts: 2,057
I'm not sure if anyone here might still be using a 10+ year old Core 2 processor, but I thought I'd share nonetheless...
The Core 2's were in production from 2006 to 2008, and transitioned from 65nm to 45nm
So, short form, at thisd point no microcode updates are planned for these Core 2 (and earlier I'd guess) processors to address the Spectre 2 vulnerabilities. I'm pretty sure everyone here is using newer processors, but you never know. Just thought I'd share.
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Typing this now on my ancient core 2 quad Q6600. I have done most of my Poser rendering on this old fellow too. Phasing out soon, as I do have much newer machines. Keeping this one around though, for old times sake.
I'm on an AMD athlon 2 x3 with my RAM maxed out at 16GB
Almost time for an upgrade. Unfortunately this will mean a new motherboard, new cpu and new RAM, which will likely cause me to have to purchase a new windows copy :(
...according to an article in ZDNet it also includes early versions of the hyperthreading i7 and Xeon CPUs
This includes (but is not limited to):
Nehalem (Bloomfield) and Westmere (Gulftown) desktop i7 CPUs (LGA 1366) and Nehalem (Clarsktown) mobile i7s (Socket G1)
Core Based (Wolfdale, Yorkfield Harpertown) Xeon CPUs (LGA 771/775), Nehalem (Bloomfield, Jasper Forest) and Westmere (Gulftown) Xeon CPUs (LGA 1366)
Basically it seems all LGA 771, 775 and 1366 CPUs from 2011 and earlier will not receive the patch (the LGA 1366 socket which my primary system has).
So I guess I will see just how good that firewall I have really is as the net step up is Sandy Bridge which would mean needing an entirely new MB.
Luckily my dual core Xeons are Sandy Bridge so I guess I just got by by the skin of my teeth. Hmmmm.
Laurie
..yeah, can't afforded to move up here with the meagre fixed pension I am living on.
Same here. Was planning to upgrade but the with the current hardware prices I'll wait.
I think one of my old computers is affected by this. It's a P4 550 Prescott Single-Core and I don't use it, so it doesn't matter much. I don't know what to do with it. It's too power hungry to use as a file server or torrent box, but I don't want to throw it away and nobody wants it. Plus, with the wierd LGA 775 socket, my CPU mounts keep breaking and the CPU (with fan & heatsink) just flops around inside the case. I'm suprised it still works at all. Intel gets a lot of things right, but when they screw something up, they really make it count.
My previous computer was a Core 2 Quad. But that machine has been retired to the closet and some of the parts stripped out for the PC I built. I can't really complain about the Core 2 Quad, it was good for its time.
There are indeed people effected by this though. Since Iray is so GPU dependent, there are people who popped like a 1070 into a Core 2 Quad based system.
But the question is how many malware makers are going to bother. If only Core 2 Quad and older are effected, what would the point be? That's a very small target to go after. Malware makers always want to target the most people possible, so they will probably look at other methods of attacking. Like Facebook.
..I recently donated an old Pentium to a local computer co-op we have here in Portland called Free Geek. Check around in your hometown to see if you have any there. Free Geek gladly takes whatever hardware you have as they have volunteers who refurbishes or cannabises it for building workable systems.
...not concerned with Iray right now until I can get my hands on a 1070.
None available yet (checked this morning).
yes it looks like they stopped support for the ivy bridge too,. dang so much for my render machine well i'll render with it until it won't render no more . .
in case if your wondering here is th intel list to see if your machine is on the no update list
link https://newsroom.intel.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2018/04/microcode-update-guidance.pdf
...crikey. So Sandy bridge is still supported but that caps at 8 cores whereas Ivy bridge caps at 12 for Windows desktop OS's. (the 15 core CPUs only support Linux and Windows Server)
I think the support has to do with the date rather than the type of core processor
The Ivy bridge Celeron Mobil family processor is still support and the Ivy bridge Pentium server is still supported . But the I7-980 extreme editions which were a year older are not supported not sure if that has anything or not to do with it but mine falls in the stop supported category, which stinks because it still a dam good machine. I dunno maybe its just a way to force people to buy new systems.
how many people have you heard that actually have been hit or hacked by a specter or meltdown virus? I have not heard of any as of yet.
We don't have that, but I'll check and see what else is available here. I'll probably just hold on to this thing. It's useful for occasionally ripping CDs/DVDs and what not, plus it gives me something to complain about.
..again it looks mostly like anything which used LGA 771, 775 and 1366 are the ones being dropped, which for me means a new MB and effectively a new machine.
I think that's the aim right there. Again, consumers pay for the mistakes of a manufacturer.
Laurie
I know it stinks , not to sounds like the geico commercial but why would I get rid of this device,it still works great.
"Gas prices too low? Our refinery's going down for maintenance, may cause a slight shortage."
"Sorry, we gave away all your private data. You need to buy identity protection, from us."
"That computer we sold you? Yeah, it's super dangerous. You should buy a new one just to be safe."
It's the new capitalism. Incompetence brings greater profit. Intel and AMD are going to give out some huge executive bonuses next quarter.
...part of why I prefer pre 1980s cars. No proprietary rubbish involved that forces you to go to their service techs when something goes wrong. I need a water pump for a 64 Buick special, I go to a parts house, get one for 25$ - 30$ and put in in myself in a couple hours instead of paying 800$ - 1,000$ and having the car sit at the service dept for a couple days.
BTW love your sig, very "Wisconsin".
Hmmm....If I read the full INTEL update chart that Ivy has so kindly provided (thanks, this is more definitive info then I could find), it looks like some of the LGA 1366 CPUs are part of the "patch" program. The Westmere CPUs (XEON 6-core 56xx series, page 16) are listed as "Production" not "Stopped". This contradicts the ZDnet article. So, it looks to me like the "Classic" machines that Kyoto Kid and I have are part of the patch program. But my spare LGA 1366 machine with the I7-950 is not. Please correct me if I am reading this wrong.
...hmm was wondering about the yellow fields though with the word "Production" in the status column.
You are reading this correctly for the Bloomfield CPUs which my old 930 and your 950.
Yeah, ZDNet only mentioned a few cases that seemed sort of vague (which is why I added the note "not limited to"). The Intel chart does clear a the matter up a bit more.
The yellow indicates an update from the previous version of the document, so we good with our X56xx cpus. I do not plan to have the X56xx blades on line anyway, but it will be nice to have the option for the desktops.
..OK so that was a change from a "Stopped" status in the older document. Got it. Thought it might mean "pending".
I still use a P3 or P4, I forget which, on my old IBM Thinkpad, a real IBM, not that Lenovo stuff. The old stuff still works for more basic applications. No need to spend the big bucks for web surfing and word processing. Now, the Threadripper monster Daz and 3D printing rig that I'm saving up for, that's a different story!
Oh, it gets better Could pay-per-mile lead to the state automating speeding tickets? And if you need an electronic key replaced, that's about $260 (for a Mazda). Heck, I bought an aftermarket 'blank' key on Amazon and still paid $180 by the time I got the dealership to program it.
My computer is affected as well - it's an old DELL T7400 carrying two Harpertown quadcore Xeons and 36 GB RAM; ten years ago workstations like these were renderfarm-material, they're still in use as servers. Can't afford to replace it. (Would probably be wisest to wait for a next generation CPU anyway, as all current CPUs are in fact vulnarable) Very considerate of Intel and Microsoft to draw lines....