I am by now pretty much convinced that those with older chips needn't worry at all,
just skip the patch if you're on Win7 with an old cpu.
Several reasons for that:
1) Although MS has been 'leading' the way by providing an OS-wide patch that remarkably slows down your cpu, some software vendors have already issued patches for their software, like FireFox, Google, and some others. VERY soon a lot if not most others will most likely follow.
Although not a complete 100% fix, it is a fix not unlike any other security bug flaw or leak being patched, so above all we need to realize that very few of those patches are ever 100% fixes to begin with, and none of us needn't panic.
2) Even if you install the patch from MS, slowing down your cpu (and yes the old ones ARE pretty much noticably impacted),
unless you update your BIOS aswell with a provided patch from the vendor, again, it will still be only half a fix.
And do not expect older mobo's like the P7 or P8 series or something like that too ever receive any patch. Asus has already confirmed to only patch the Z99 and after, so everyone still running an Asus board before that is pretty much done for the trouble even if they install the M$ patch.
With an older cpu it is understandable that one needs every % squeezed out of it, and there is little need to panic by not installing the patch.
3)
"On a standalone computer, the vulnerability only gives access to applications running on the same host.Other malware running as administrator or system can potentially do the same (with some limitations thanks to other security measures) ", writes Haber.
"This threat is not like WannaCry or other ransomware that can infect the computer when the user is not present (for example, a remote priviledged exploit) .A user must do something to run a new program, and run this program with sufficient rights before the vulnerability can be exploited This is the reason the threat is not critical to the average user and poses a much higher risk for cloud providers and virtualized environments A threat actor with the possibility to set up a new virtual machine can exploit this vulnerability to see other environments, including environments that are not his, that's the risk, not your iPhone and certainly not an Apple MacBook Pro. "
https://translate.google.com/translate? ... edit-text=
"Due to the nature of this exploit, the actual risk is extraordinarily small. There is really nothing to worry about."
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8229091
4)
"As of today, there are no known exploits in the wild impacting vulnerable Intel, AMD and ARM devices."
https://threatpost.com/experts-weigh-in ... es/129337/
"Despite these details, as of this writing no known exploits have yet been seen in the wild".
http://www.channelpostmea.com/2018/01/0 ... AMcYbZT.99
There are no known exploits as of today. Off course that will eventually change, but there's no rush, none at all, at least for us home users. Companies and entities holding sensitive and valuable info on servers is another story, which is why the hard- and software world are now rushing to get ahead of it.
The script kiddies will not be hacking your kernel in the next few weeks. In terms of years ? Well, yes, by then they will BUT unless you constantly surf porn sites you'll still be fine. We make music people, we don't surf shady crack sites and porn hubs, we make music and buy all of our software, we surf clean sites, so the risk will even then, be very very minimal. All software will eventually be patched anyway and it'll be treated like any other malicious exploit by the time the small time hackers get their hands on some workable tools. And the big time hackers will not be targeting your home pc but mostly the big data centers and webservers and the likes. Eventually this could lead to a new cpu-design but untill then there is little to actually fear for you and me.
Remember the ransomware hype ? Worldwide hysteria, and for what actually ??? As long as you use your common sense like you've always done and stay away from shady mails and sites, NOTHING happens. It has been YEARS since I've even had a frelling virus, and I surf daily, but always on secure and clean sites, and I always check the actual mail addresses for every single mail before even clicking on anything. Use your sense, don't just fall for the hype (again) and go running out in panic installing whatever you can get to fix it 'now now now'...it's just a fool's game for home users, and most of what you reel in on your pc is dependent on your surf behavior in the first place.
So to recap, for older cpu's you're relying on the software vendors anyway to partially fix the (VERY SMALL) risk to home user setups.
You can choose to install the slowing M$ Windows fix and lose up to 15-20% potentially, or wait it out, relax the frell down, and let the software vendors do their thing and patch their applications. Combined with good clean surfing behavior, as it should have always been, that will suffice for an old standalone pc that is still connected to do some surfing. The M$ fix is worthless anyway 'without' the microupdate from your motherboard vendor. Unless you surf the shady corners of the web the risk of being hacked will remain the same as it has been before. By the time exploits fully surface most software will be patched anyway, including firewalls, AV, malware, things like HIPS sandboxes, browsers, etc...
And if you do surf dangerous sites on a regular basis or you're just too paranoid, you can pull the cord and start using another pc for online connectivity, make the music station dedicated and isolated from the web.
The newer motherboards will get their microupdate and their cpus are far less affected than say a Lynnfield or Clarkdale, so they can just install it all and be done, never look back.