Intel Sandybridge-chipset on hold

[VJ]

Intel has put the delivery of the Cougar Point chipset (for Sandybridge) on hold due to a design error!

http://newsroom.intel.com/community/intel_newsroom/blog/2011/01/31/intel-identifies-chipset-design-error-implementing-solution?cid=rss-258152-c1-264102

There is a problem with the Sata300 ports loosing performance over time. Intel has halted delivery, and will replace the chipsets delivered to manufacturers near the end of February. For existing mainboards, there will be a recall to replace the chipsets... Intel expects to be back on track by April...

Guess my planned upgrade will have to wait...

Jörg

[Evildead666]

Yeah, this doesn't look good at all.
They'll be back, but at the same time as AMD's Bulldozer.

Looks like sales are gonna be in the toilet until April/May, and even then a few more weeks of comparisons between AMD and Intel's offerings.

They have sorted it out very quickly, and will probably take the hit entirely.

[Jammrock]

Wow, this is bigger than the Pentium math bug. $700 million pitfall in lost revenue and repaire/replace costs.

Speaking of Bulldozer, I can't wait to see the benchmarks for it. I hope it gives Sandy Bridge a run for it's money. Intel needs and another shove to get these little incremental improvements turned into leaps and bounds again.

[VJ]

I wonder: if you buy a mainboard in March/April, will there a way of knowing the chipset on it has the bug (e.g. when it was kept in the store)?

Jörg

[Evildead666]

Taking the heatsink off and looking at the revision markings on the chip would probably work.

Not sure about an unobtrusive method though.

[Umfriend]

I think all the MBs will show a new revision as well, so that'd solve it.

[VJ]

Would the mainboard revision be altered if the manufacturer decides to replace the affected chipsets and reship the mainboards? Or will they not do such a thing and just pull the mainboards with the affected chipset?

[Umfriend]

I guess it's just to expensive to have the existing boards reused given that it'll be hard to automate replacing the chips by robots (and have all the boards be sent back to the factory etc).

[VJ]

Yes, that may be true...
I read somewhere that some boards might find their way in OEM systems: the problem does not occur on the first 2 SATA ports, nor on the 3rd party controller SATA ports (e.g. Marvel). So for the simple mainboards it still leaves 2 SATA ports unaffected and for the higher end mainboards even 4 SATA ports. Most OEM systems don't have much room for disks, so the additional ports are not that important...

[Umfriend]

Gigabyte has a utility that tells you which chipset you have: http://gigabytedaily.blogspot.com/20...ata-check.html

It's all a bit of a pain, my Sandy B PC just got delivered and apparantly I can change it in April but Í'd have to send in my MB first.... Read on Anand that Gigabyte is also offering a refund but I can't find an official notice to that effect.

[VJ]

I saw that utility, but I thought it just listed to which ports you had devices connected and made suggestions accordingly. I don't know if it is capable of identifying if the chipset suffers the issues (there are no unaffected chipsets out there).

I was going to get an Asus P67 mainboard, but now I've put it all on hold. I'm guessing April might be safe to buy it... :-)

Jörg

[Fat Tone]

If the manufacturers are building systems that will only ever need two sata ports (laptops, netbooks, all-in-ones) then Intel are now allowing them to use the faulty chipsets, provided the remaining ports are disabled:

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/365086/intel-lets-pc-makers-sell-flawed-chipsets?DCMP=NLC-Newsletters

[Jammrock]

I read that some manufactures will ship boards with the Intel SATA II ports disabled and use 3rd party chipsets to augement the number of onboard SATA chips. That way there is only a blip in sales and not a three month drought.

[VJ]

Most Sandybridge mainboards have an additional SATA controller: the Sandybridge chipset only boasts 2 SATA-II ports; the manufacturers commonly add a Marvel controller to provide 2 more ports.

[Jammrock]

It's 2 x SATA III and 4 x SATA II on the 6-series chipset.