In the meantime, Intel has blamed the problem on a software bug triggering the affected desktop chips to run at a higher voltage, which is likely causing that permanent damage. In response, the company plans on releasing a patch later this month. But the software fix is mainly designed to prevent the instability issues from cropping up. So far, Intel has only said the software fix might "provide some instability improvements" for processors already experiencing crash failures. Hence, many affected consumers wonder if their Intel processors have already become degraded and need to be turned in.