I've opted to not update.  I'm still running a older I7 930 on my personal desktop that I already had to drop from 4.2 to 4.0 due to performance degradation.  Add 5-30% and that might as well be my breaking point in forcing me to upgrade. 
 
Now,  worst part is for all my servers.  I can NOT have performance degradation on those due to this issue.  I do not want to deal with customers calling saying they are having performance issue.  Xeon chips are going to be affected by this as well. 
 
"possible massive Intel CPU hardware bug that directly opens up serious vulnerabilities on big cloud providers which offer shared hosting (several VMs on a single host), for example by letting a VM read from or write to another one."
 
Source
 
Myself and my Sr admin are tabling this issue for now,  our cloud environment can not have this kind performance issue.  It is the key part of our business.  We notified our customers of this.  Luckily all our customers completely understand that this has nothing to do with our platform and everything to do with the hardware mfg.
 
This issue goes well beyond what most of you think.  We're talking about major infrastructure on a national to global level.   

I'm not around here much these days, and im not quick to jump on a bandwagon this quickly but my rig is getting older now.... i7 960......and i dont know if its a coincidence or not....I did an update last night thinking nothing of it, I have honestly been chasing weird performance issues all day.....I cant run alot of stuff i used to run yesturday....

Davabled
For those testing benchmarks on Windows to see if the patch affects performance, please note that while you may have the patch installed, it is disabled until you also get a firmware update.  Meaning, you might not see a performance hit (and also won't be protected) with the patch installed until your hardware manufacturer also releases a firmware update.  (I'm hoping EVGA will make an announcement regarding firmware updates.)
Source: https://www.anandtech.com/show/12214/understanding-meltdown-and-spectre
(see the PowerShell screenshot about halfway through the article)
 
After installing the windows update, you can test whether the patch is enabled by using Windows Power Shell via the following commands
PS > Install-Module SpeculationControl
PS > Get-SpeculationControlSettings
source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4073119/windows-client-guidance-for-it-pros-to-protect-against-speculative-exe
 
If all of the results show True, then the patch is enabled and working.
 
 

Hmm, that wanted me to install something.  Not happening.  I started to and it gave a warning about untrusted repository. 

bobmitch
More benchmark testing
 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qZksorJAuY
 
 

Pointless test as his bios isn't updated yet.

well if the updates actually do reduce performance, thank goodness my i5 8600k runs rock solid @ 5 GHZ

flyinion

panzlock
CPU needs microcode update or patch is ineffective.

So unless you have a recent motherboard, you're either "screwed" or "in luck" depending on how you look at it (being vulnerable vs. not taking a performance hit).  Asus hasn't put out a BIOS update for my Maximus VII board in like 2 years.

Your board never received new BIOS updates because it didn't need them. This seems to be a critical issue so I'm sure all required updates will be provided for all hardware that requires the change.
 
ROG forum members are looking into the matter. Some claim they are unable to reach support. This also happened with the previous microcode when they could also not be reached, but the microcode showed up on their web page promptly. ASUS has a broad spectrum of board types for Intel and AMD so this will take some time.

I read the same. Hence why they are attempting patch exclusion.

wmmills
Oh, did you guys see the icing on this terrible cake: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/01/intel-ceos-sale-of-stock-just-before-security-bug-reveal-raises-questions/  
Not that I would expect anything less from Intel and def not from upper management.
 

Arctic. Light
I'm not around here much these days, and im not quick to jump on a bandwagon this quickly but my rig is getting older now.... i7 960......and i dont know if its a coincidence or not....I did an update last night thinking nothing of it, I have honestly been chasing weird performance issues all day.....I cant run alot of stuff i used to run yesturday....

Yes, it will affect programs like cleaners, antivirus/malware, benchmarks of all types etc... so depending on what your running you can see upto a 50% reduction in results....if it doesn't just crash.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/01/meltdown-and-spectre-every-modern-processor-has-unfixable-security-flaws/

Yep! their is a Thread about it  INTEL CEO sells off $39 million worth of shares  !!! ..before news went public

panzlock
This is the important part of the above mentioned article.
 
The Rule 10b5-1 plan under which Krzanich scheduled the stock sale is intended to shield executives from accusations of insider trading. But because of the timing of the plan and the length of time Intel kept the vulnerability secret, SEC officials could still see the maneuver as a trade based on insider information—especially if there was no other material reason for Krzanich to sell the stock.

You should post that here as well  INTEL CEO sells off $39 million worth of shares  !!! ..before news went public

I like how a lot said on Microsoft fix   not a standalone intel fix.    so your still stuck with whats now windows roll up updating where you will have to accept all Microsoft updates you may not or don't want  to get that intel fix ?
 
now you see how easy it is for Microsoft to slip  you a mickey   . [like how they slipped that GWX in to everyone nor wise to that  before it started ]     when Microsoft took away you choice of being able to pick the updates you want  and decline what you did not want or need how this can end up ??? with this roll up updating you cant take just one  you have to take them all  and if you got to remove one for any reason you remove all in that roll up up date  .   all I see now form this is any exploiters  that did not know now know  or it too little too late anyway  if this been going on for years   or is this just under use of  that malware called windows 10  that exploits you right from the get go ??
 
then I guess its like all ways turn that internet off  if your not using it  if braking a connection helps brake there trying to do a exploit

Dr.Death
I like how a lot said on Microsoft fix   not a standalone intel fix.    so your still stuck with whats now windows roll up updating where you will have to accept all Microsoft updates you may not or don't want  to get that intel fix ?
 
now you see how easy it is for Microsoft to slip  you a mickey   . [like how they slipped that GWX in to everyone nor wise to that  before it started ]     when Microsoft took away you choice of being able to pick the updates you want  and decline what you did not want or need how this can end up ??? with this roll up updating you cant take just one  you have to take them all  and if you got to remove one for any reason you remove all in that roll up up date  .   all I see now form this is any exploiters  that did not know now know  or it too little too late anyway  if this been going on for years   or is this just under use of  that malware called windows 10  that exploits you right from the get go ??
 
then I guess its like all ways turn that internet off  if your not using it  if braking a connection helps brake there trying to do a exploit

And you think that is Bad, No Patch for Windows XP and Server 2003.
Maybe this is all a Fixed Issue to Force Users to Update Their Computers.

Remember That This Is Only The Beginning Of What Might Be The End Of Computing As We Know It Today.

https://www.reddit.com/r/intel/comments/7oeh84/performance_impact_of_windows_patch_and_bios/
 
Ouch.

bcavnaugh
Remember That This Is Only The Beginning Of What Might Be The End Of Computing As We Know It Today.

^What!
-
My head is spinning ... I'm I wrong in thing of sitting on my hands and watch the dust fly a little while longer? 1-3 months.

Reid01
I am now questioning if I even want to buy this i7 8700k now. I am now looking at the Ryzen, and I am not an AMD fan. I am not an average computer user. I am a gamer, video editor, pizza orderer, and programmer. I really wish I knew how much this is going to dent the performance of these high-end CPU’s, like the 8700k. Security first, I get that, but dang...

What resolution do you play at?  Even at 1080p the Ryzen 1800x does a pretty decent job.  Anything over 2k resolutions your bottleneck with bill your GPU and not your CPU.  However for video editing, programing, etc. you would be better off the the AMD chipset.
 
I believe that Intel will figure out a way to fix this issue without people losing 30% performance across the boards.