Defective Sandy Bridge Chipset

Intel have just announced a design flaw in their Sandy bridge chipsets, meaning that any computer produced by any manufacturer containing a H67/P67 chipset is affected.

If your computer contains an Intel Core i5/i7 2400, 2500, 2500k, 2600 or 2600k you may be affected by this:

http://newsroom.intel.com/community...es-chipset-design-error-implementing-solution

We are very sorry to report this issue although it is totally beyond our control.

Solutions - If you have received your computer.

Any customers who have received their computers are well within their rights to return the computer to us under warranty. As the press release states the problem is a possibility of a degredation of the chipset over time, and it effects hard drives and optical drives connected to SATA 3GB/s ports only. It will not cause the drives to fail - it's the SATA ports on the motherboard that are the problem. If your hard drives are connected to SATA 6GB/s ports you are not affected by this, but your optical drives (DVD/CD/Blu-ray drives) will be. Please continue to use your computer as normal - the performance at the moment will not be affected.

What to do? For now, please don't do anything. We will contact you if you are affected once a solution is in place. Because the new chipsets won't be ready until at least the end of February, there is no point returning your computer now. Once the chipsets are ready you will be able to return your computer to us and we will replace the motherboard with a suitable defect free ASUS model. If you don't want the hassle of returning your computer there will possibly be an easy solution. Because it's only the SATA 3GB/s ports that are affected, we may be able to send you a PCI/PCI-E SATA card, which you can install into a PCI/PCI-E slot and connect your hard drives/optical drives to. This is most likely the preferred choice for most customers, and once we confirm this as a workable solution we will contact you with further information.

Solutions - If you have placed an order but not yet received it.

Because all motherboards currently available contain the defective chipset, and the new chipset will not be available until the end of February, you have a choice on what to do:

1. Amend your order to a chipset other than Sandy Bridge, for example an i7-950 based PC.

2. Amend your order to ensure that your hard drives and optical drives are only connected to SATA 6GB/s ports. If your motherboard has only 2 x SATA 6GB/s ports, then the total drives available would be 2. SATA 6GB/s ports are not affected by this issue.

3. We may be able to install a PCI/PCI-E SATA card into the system and connect your drives to this. The only downside to this would be the loss of a spare PCI/PCI-E port. For most customers, this will be the best solution if it becomes workable because otherwise your order will be delayed by at least 1 month, possibly longer. Given that Sandy Bridge are priced very well and the fastest performing processors available, this is a small compromise to ensure you still receive the latest and greatest system possible.

As always we will work with all our customers to provide the best customer service possible, and although a solution is not immediately available we will work to put this right as quickly as possible. Please however refrain from contacting us at present unless you wish to cancel your order - we will contact you as soon as we are in a position to offer a suitable solution. Remember that your computer will work problem free at the moment and it's only in the future that you may notice any effect - you might never notice anything. Not a single failure has been reported in the UK at present, it is Intel who have discovered the possibility of a problem.

Timescales

You should expect to hear from us in the next 1-2 weeks, with a solution being made available in early March.

As this issue has only just been discovered, it is likely that the exact details and possibly the solutions will change.

Well done on a speedy announcement. This is a real shame for us and you. Maybe Intel shouldn't have rushed these things out without proper testing?

wow that has taken the edge off. Credit to you for tackling it head on. I'm not sure how I feel. PC marked as shipped but with no shipping text to my mobile I guess you are holding on to them for the moment.

And this is why I am in such a completely foul mood.

Seeing as I hand picked my current SB chip for a nice overclock... ( and i got it at 5.0 stable )

This means im gonna get a generic random POS from Intel ..... boooooo

ok an update. its not the chips that are faulty.

its the chipSET on the baords.

and in SOME cases the chipset MAY cause SOME degredation.....

This is some AMD super hype....

AMD Troll is effective...

Ouch. Looks like Intel really messed up. This sucks for everyone involved but it looks like you guys have it covered. My sympathy goes to all affected - must be really frustrating especially having just received a new PC. The best that can be said is at least it's only the chipset and not the chips themselves.

As an AMD fanboy I would like to add... too soon. But there will be a time and place.

Seriously though if it were me in the same situation I would be in a foul mood too. I feel your pain.

Additionally the Marvell controller is unafected.. so my drives are plugged into that now, and im sound as a pound

This is being over hyped sooo hard....

all you have to do is plug your drives into the built in controller, and you can forget all about it.

IMHO AMD spinning it up, and the match stick trying to burn down the forest.

Dont get me wrong, for Intel to halt shipments, there is a big issue. But its really not anything that cant be managed.

I'm guessing I'm ok though, the Asus card I ordered would appear to have 4 Sata 6 ports so , optical , 2x 1TB drives leaves room for an SSD upgrade? Sounds like it might be a slight delay checking the build and reconfiguring and breathe ....


Sorry checked again. It seem the more basic board has 4 x Sata 6 the pro board has only 2. Seems like I will need a rebuild....

most if not all SB boards will have 6gb or 2, so i think we will be fine

If not contact retailer, make them end you a new one out.

Sux big time. So now you guys are saying we will be fine? Debating whether to just cancel my order now, was getting so excited for it. Got my new monitor, keyboard and desk arriving tomorrow, shame I'm not gonna be able to use them

I think the only option is to cancel. Would you really be happy with something that could go tits up in the future? How about having ZERO value if you decided to sell it? No one's going to touch the first batch of boards with a 500 foot barge pole.

I had hoped my PC was going to be with me early this week. I have been looking forward to receiving it for the last 3 weeks. In fact I had developed a bit of a OCD by keep checking the order status! To see it all go tits up like this is soul destroying.

I also feel sorry for PC builders who have basically wasted their time & effort since Jan 9th & businesses like PC Specialist. People should look at the wording of the Intel press release - this is a major recall. They have put aside $700m to cover this mess.

Damn, have you cancelled yours then? I might wait until they contact me.

ntel: main points of Sandy Bridge chipset flaw:
Chipset: The issue is in Sandy Bridge's Cougar Point chipset, not the main Sandy Bridge processor. Most Sandy Bridge systems sold to date are quad-core laptops. Potentially affected systems have been shipping only since January 9.
Issue: Affects SATA ports 2 through 5, not ports 0 and 1. Most laptops have two SATA devices, such as a hard disk drive and optical drive that would be using the unaffected ports 0 and 1. That said, Sandy Bridge-based systems with more than a couple of SATA devices could potentially be affected.
How issue was discovered: Last week customers started telling Intel that there was an issue. As Intel stressed the part, then Intel's labs started seeing a failure to access ports 2 through 5. The Intel stress test simulated time passing and it showed that over time this issue could come up.
How many Sandy Bridge chipsets shipped to date: 8 million. But Intel claims relatively few are in customers' hands. Most of those are in the sales channel and will be pulled out of the channel. Intel is supporting PC makers in this effort.
Issue fixed in new silicon: Intel has corrected the design issue, and has begun manufacturing a new version of the chipset which will resolve the issue.
Delay of new Sandy Bridge chips: Intel expects to begin delivering the updated version of the chipset to customers in late February and expects full volume recovery in April.
Analyst's take: Nathan Brookwood of Insight 64, a chip consulting firm.
Affects consumer not corporate (enterprise): It was caught during the testing of consumer-oriented products, so when Intel finally launches Sandy Bridge processors that are targeted at enterprise--typically with vPro capability--those systems won't have the issue.
If a consumer has an early Sandy Bridge laptop: If a customer has a system with the potentially-flawed chipset, then the only real alternative is to replace the entire motherboard where the chipset has been soldered down.
Most laptops shipping today still use the previous generation of Intel processors: Because the Sandy Bridge products that use the Cougar Point chipset are just ramping now, the high-volume products continue to be last year's Core i series processors (codenamed "Westmere"). These products are not affected.


Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20030070-64.html#ixzz1CeMluagT

Personally im going to use Sata 0 and 1 for optical, and my controller for SSD and Storage drive...

So im sat happy.

Its going to a tough time in the industry. How many machines are going to be sold in coming weeks? Intel has scored such a lead with these chips but with no immediate solution most people will wait and see. AMD doesn't seem to offer alternatives and the SB chips were excellent value. I am in two minds on what I will do. There seems to be, or likely to be a work around but do I want that? The flawed chip set take the edge of what is quite a major purchase. The one thing I am confident of is how PCS will deal with it.

I've ordered a Sandy Bridge system, but not received it yet. Although the news is disappointing, I'm won't be cancelling my order.

Let's wait until the dust settles, when more details and concrete information come to light.

I think everyone is over reacting a little bit here.

First off. I don't care is ports 3 - 5 are playing up as im never going to use them.

If i do see other things adjusted from the recall, Ill just grab a new one off of OC when there available and then send them my old one back for RMA, or get it refunded myself.

Maximum potential impact for me...

Swapping out a motherboard..

no big deal...

Not as bad as when i hear on the radio that honda was issuing a recall on my S2000 for a brakes issue... as I was driving along in it...

Relax people... your boards will be working just find for longer than it takes them to get the fixed boards into supply.

And Intel have admitted fault, so refunds will be no problem.

Sit back, Let the Intenet simmer down... and personally im going back to tweeking for a 5ghz stable

Shocks said:

Its going to a tough time in the industry. How many machines are going to be sold in coming weeks? Intel has scored such a lead with these chips but with no immediate solution most people will wait and see. AMD doesn't seem to offer alternatives and the SB chips were excellent value. I am in two minds on what I will do. There seems to be, or likely to be a work around but do I want that? The flawed chip set take the edge of what is quite a major purchase. The one thing I am confident of is how PCS will deal with it.

Click to expand...

there is an immediate solution in place already.

Intel has admitted fault. so recalls / RMA / refunds are not going to be a problem.

This is really no big deal, and people just need to calm down.

The interwebs are not coming to an end.

You havent wasted any money.

At worse you have to change out a board / get a board changed out. AT WORSE !

Although an interesting point is someone somewhere just went....

I knew I should of double checked that...

Just be glad your not that guy !

Ok, I've just order a i5-2500 and am a COMPLETE noob when it comes to computers. What do i have to worry about in the most basic way possible?