The new 12th Generation Intel Core “Alder Lake” CPUs are already receiving solid reviews, in some cases as chips that will give Intel a vital spin on desktop. But keep in mind that the chips, at least for now, don’t work well with all PC games, despite the chip giant advertising them as powerful gaming processors.
Intel has released a release where the hybrid CPU core architecture on Alder Lake may be incompatible with some games, especially some protected by Denuvo’s anti-piracy DRM software. Users complain of situations such as, games crashing after a very short time, or just not launching at all.
Intel: Why Alder Lake has problems
The errors occur because Denuvo’s DRM software will mistakenly think that the so-called “Performance-core” and “Efficiency-core” (P-core and E-core) on the chip belong to two separate PCs, when in fact the two types of the processing cores are running on the same Alder Lake processor.
This P-core / E-core design is a new feature of Intel chips with Alder Lake. Once it detects that some of the load has been split between cores P and E, it sees the new cores as a new license holder (a separate system) and force quit the game to prevent two PCs from trying to run a game on the same key.
Intel was originally confused as to which specific games were affected, making the extent of the problem unclear; the company mentioned “32” in pre-release press briefings. No one could know if they were marginal or triple A titles, because hundreds of games use the Denuvo DRM scheme. But on Thursday, the company posted a list of all PC titles notice they have incompatibility problems with Alder Lake.
It includes 51 games, including For Honor, Mortal Kombat 11, Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, as well as Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. Intel says it is working with game developers to implement a software fix, though the company notes that some of the affected DRM-protected titles may work fine, as long as the PC is on Windows 11.
Meanwhile, the company says it has come up with a workaround that can run any affected game on Alder Lake. But it will do this by putting the efficiency cores on standby. To access the workaround, you will need to dig into your PC’s BIOS settings during the boot sequence and then turn “Legacy Game Compatibility Mode ON (once only)” according to Intel’s instructions.
The next time you launch the affected game, press the Scroll Lock key on your keyboard. You should be able to run the game without crashing. Once you’re out of the title, tap the Scroll Lock key again to turn it off. However, not all motherboards support this mode, to find out you will have to consult your motherboard manual, or update the BIOS in some cases.
These interim fixes, therefore, may require more a BIOS change one-time, but a full BIOS update, an intimidating prospect for non-tweakers who immediately switched to Alder Lake.
For now, the controversy about it that has exploded on dedicated forums and on social media, verges on ridicule, on a par with the justifications of Intel, which is the only one to lose, especially now that it was looking for a renewed trust from Apple, and above all a return to leadership in the desktop sector, now in the absolute hands of AMD.
It was not enough that Microsoft did not accept processors under the ninth generation of Intel, for its Windows 11, preferring AMD, nor the loss of the contract with Apple (which to be honest has done much more damage to Apple than to Intel). Maybe it’s not simply the fault of Intel alone, but of an American government that doesn’t support engineers or STEM in general, or poor management, but for sure it is not the Denuvo’s fault.
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