Sandy Bridge design flaw - Intel halted on NASDAQ - updated 2/8/11.

[Vette73]

humm it says the only chips affected are the i5/i7 mobile sb and the i5/i7 vpro? is that referring to all the sb?

Cougar Point is Desktop AND Mobile. So it affects all.
See here...

http://ark.intel.com/ProductCollection.aspx?codeName=37529

 

[apoppin]

More details - it looks like a full recall

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/20326

Bad news for SB early adopters

Intel announced earlier this morning that it has discovered a flaw in the 6-series chipsets that accompany the new processor family. While it reassures users that they can "continue to use their systems with confidence," the chipmaker has nonetheless halted chipset shipments . . .
. . . Intel adds that it will "work with its OEM partners to accept the return of the affected chipsets," and it plans to "support modifications or replacements needed on motherboards or systems."

Yes, that likely means the replacement of all Sandy-Bridge-based motherboards, laptops, and pre-built PCs currently on store shelves or already in the hands of consumers.

A recall of ALL SB MBs, notebooks and pre-built PCs is going to cost Intel a fortune.

The reason:
. . . "In some cases, the Serial-ATA (SATA) ports within the chipsets may degrade over time, potentially impacting the performance or functionality of SATA-linked devices such as hard disk drives and DVD-drives."

Sloppy.

 

[wanderer27]

More details - it looks like a full recall

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/20326

Bad news for SB early adopters
A recall of ALL SB MBs, notebooks and pre-built PCs is going to cost Intel a fortune.

The reason:
. . . "In some cases, the Serial-ATA (SATA) ports within the chipsets may degrade over time, potentially impacting the performance or functionality of SATA-linked devices such as hard disk drives and DVD-drives."

Sloppy.

If you think about it, there shouldn't be any further sales of SB MB's until they get the new chips out (April-ish).

Whether or not that actually happens though is another issue.


.

 

[VigilanteCS]

Looks like I get a new motherboard. Woot.

 

[Avalon]

That sounds like a pain in the ass...

 

[Diogenes2]

At least everyone who screwed up there SB build have an excuse now..

 

[Husky55]

That sounds like a pain in the ass...

Yep. Sucks big time!! Just ordered a HP dv7 SB last week!!!

 

[dudeofdur]

From what I've gathered it seems only to be a problem with the cpu? do we know if they're gonna just replace it with one that is fixed or is it a total recall of the sb series?

 

[Beavermatic]

I dont care. I probably just bought one of the defective boards for my sandy bridge 2600k... its a intel board itself.

If i have problems, intel will send a new board (not a refurb), and the shits solved, and I'm down for a day or two.

If i don't, then I go about ym buisness as usual.

It's literally no sweat from my sac, and I love my 2600k and board.

 

[Vette73]

From what I've gathered it seems only to be a problem with the cpu? do we know if they're gonna just replace it with one that is fixed or is it a total recall of the sb series?

No not a CPU issue but a motherboard chip issue.


If intel would have let others make chipsets, like in the rambus days, this would not be as bad. But for the next several months there will be no good chipsets on the retail market.

 

[Edrick]

Meh, I will be on the new (LGA2011) chipset in Q3/Q4 anyways. Im still happy with my system now as it works perfectly.

 

[ikachu]

I dont care. I probably just bought one of the defective boards for my sandy bridge 2600k... its a intel board itself.

If i have problems, intel will send a new board (not a refurb), and the shits solved, and I'm down for a day or two.

If i don't, then I go about ym buisness as usual.

It's literally no sweat from my sac, and I love my 2600k and board.

What's not clear is if the 'degredation in SATA performance' means that the chipset could actually do permanent damage to your HDD or not. So I'm not sure if the sweat from your sac is worth the $300 it costs to replace a SSD or not but you might want to wait for more clarification from Intel.

 

[wanderer27]

What's not clear is if the 'degredation in SATA performance' means that the chipset could actually do permanent damage to your HDD or not. So I'm not sure if the sweat from your sac is worth the $300 it costs to replace a SSD or not but you might want to wait for more clarification from Intel.

Not to mention the possible loss/corruption of your Data.

I guess it depends on how valuable your data is . . . .



.

 

[Engineer]

Well shit, I guess I'll hold up on sending in the rebate for my new P67 Biostar board and maybe just contact Newegg to see if they will pay to ship it back. Glad I haven't built the damn thing yet.

 

[drizek]

But for the next several months there will be no good chipsets on the retail market.

890GX is pretty spiffy...

Seriously though, why not just put your HDDs/SSD on the SATA III Marvell controller that is in virtually every SB board and only use the intel one for optical drives?

 

[Patrick Wolf]

This has the posibility to damage SATA components according to the article.

"potentially impacting" doesn't = damage. If that were the case, there would be a recall of boards.

 

[dangerman1337]

Gah I was looking foward to build my SB PC soon :\. I hope this doesn't take long as i don't want to wait till Q2 for Bulldozer to come out.

 

[dudeofdur]

No not a CPU issue but a motherboard chip issue.


If intel would have let others make chipsets, like in the rambus days, this would not be as bad. But for the next several months there will be no good chipsets on the retail market.

oh ok thanks for the correction. Then is there anything up with the cpu itself? can i just get my motherboard replaced?

 

[Vette73]

890GX is pretty spiffy...

Seriously though, why not just put your HDDs/SSD on the SATA III Marvell controller that is in virtually every SB board and only use the intel one for optical drives?

I just looked at newegg and MOST 1155 boards do NOT have extra SATA ports from a 3rd party contoller.

Only 15 out of 58 boards have extra 6Gb SATA ports

 

[Anomaly1964]

F*&K!

 

[Vette73]

oh ok thanks for the correction. Then is there anything up with the cpu itself? can i just get my motherboard replaced?

No CPU issues that I know of. But there will not be any new chips in retail form, per Intel, till April.

 

[dangerman1337]

I just looked at newegg and MOST 1155 boards do NOT have extra SATA ports from a 3rd party contoller.

Only 15 out of 58 boards have extra 6Gb SATA ports

Plus this is going to delay alot of SB notebooks now. Didn't MB makers had working Motherboard samples on display in Computex in 2010?

 

[Wreckage]

This is why it sucks when you have only 1 chipset option.

 

[apoppin]

More info from an Intel conference call
http://www.legitreviews.com/news/9957/

Intel had a design oversight with one of the metal layers of their 6 series chipset, so they need a re-spin of the silicon to fix the issue. This issue is on all 'Cougar Town' 6 series chipsets and Intel said that slightly less than 8 million of these chipsets have already been made. All of those chipsets have Serial-ATA (SATA) ports within the chipsets that may degrade over time, potentially impacting the performance or functionality of SATA-linked devices such as hard disk drives and DVD-drives. Intel said that the issue is only one four of the chipsets six SATA ports. The SATA III 6Gbps ports are not impacted by this issue. Intel went on to say that not one consumer board has been returned with this issue, but it's an issue that arises with time. Internal Intel use conditions right now project 5-6% failure rates for notebooks over a 3 year life for a machine. It appears that the more voltage and higher temperatures the PC is run at will only increase the chances of failure. What happens when it fails? It looks like you'll get bit errors on the SATA link and have drives no longer showing up on the platform. It sounds like no data will be lost though and that the drive can be placed on another system for data recovery if your chipset should fail. Intel expects to have new silicon to be rolling off the fab lines in February and then have the issue resolved in April 2011.

 

[dmcowen674]

I dont care. I probably just bought one of the defective boards for my sandy bridge 2600k... its a intel board itself.

If i have problems, intel will send a new board (not a refurb), and the shits solved, and I'm down for a day or two.

If i don't, then I go about ym buisness as usual.

It's literally no sweat from my sac, and I love my 2600k and board.

Wow, diehard fanbois are a hoot.

Baaah it's only data