Intel's defective Sandy Bridge Chipsets: Status Report
Not Just Water Under the Bridge. After Intel admitted that their Cougar Point chipsets of the "Sandy Bridge" generation exhibited defective 3GBit/s SATA ports, followed the initial shock and reactions of notebook manufacturers and retailers. In this article, we will provide you with constantly updated information on the issue.
Redaktion (translated by Daniel Rechitsky), Published
Views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author.
Manufacturers and retailers are currently handling complaints about products with these possibly defective chipsets in various ways. The overwhelming majority has now called for an immediate halt to the delivery of potentially affected products as well as hassle-free exchanges for customers.
Because new announcements dealing with Intels chipset defects are now arriving almost by the hour, updated information will continue to be posted in this article for your convenience.
So, what's the deal, anyway?
Intel 6 Series Express Chipsets for the Sandy Bridge and Intel Xeon C200 Series, particularly H67, P67 and the first generation mobile chipsets HM65, HM67, QM67, QS67, UM67 might exhibit a defect in the SATA-II controller. All motherboards with Cougar Point chipsets delivered on or after 9 January will have to be exchanged according to information currently available.
The Problem
The SATA-2 ports—more specifically ports 2 through 5 (3 GBit/s (3G))—might begin to work unreliably with time or, in the worst case scenario, stop working completely. Hard discs and DVD burners connected to through these ports might begin to react unpredictably or no longer react at all, provided there's a defect in the SATA-2 ports. The SATA-6G ports (6 GBit/s) should not be affected by this defect according to Intel.
The Culprit: Intel Cougar Point Chipset
The Source of the Problem
Intel has unfortunately left it to other websites like Anandtech to name the particular cause of problems associated with Cougar Point Chipsets. Intel's Social Media Strategist, Kelly Feller, in an answer to a question posted on Technology@Intel Blog concerning the chipset defect, merely stated "...You might want to check out Anandtech’s summary of the issue. They have broken it down..."
Anand Lal Shimpi of Anandtech.com names the source of the possible PCH defect in his article, "The Source of Intel's Cougar Point SATA Bug" as a transistor in the 3G-PLL Clocking Tree. Both the SATA 3G and the SATA 6G controllers use their own individual clock generators. This means that SATA-2 ports running at 6 GBit/s are not affected. According to Shimpi, the metal-oxide layer of the PLL transistor for the 3Gbit/s circuit was constructed too thin. Depending on the age of the layer, the temperature it's exposed to over time and the voltage applied, the clock generator can—in extreme cases—prematurely stop working.
What will be done?
Intel is already shifting the process for chip construction to correct the design flaw of the affected "Cougar Point" chips. This means that the spin coating or spin-on for one of the outer metal-oxide layers on each chip will be readjusted.
Intel is currently working with partners under heavy pressure to produce a simple, quick and cost-minimizing solution to the chipset problem for all those involved. Nevertheless, Intel estimates their losses to come to approximately 1,000,000,000 US dollars due to the current lack of sales. The chipset defect should decrease revenue for the 1st quarter by 300 million US dollars. Intel is expecting to spend about 700 million US dollars on replacing potentially defective chips and systems.
When?
Intel has already provided customers with approximately 8 million defective "Cougar Point" chipsets. These must now be replaced. According to Intel, the re-engineered chipsets can be delivered to customers by the end of February. Full production capacity is expected to be restored by the April according to Intel.
Reactions
Acer: No official statements as of now. Once we get word from Acer, updates will be posted.
Asus: According to a statement from Asus headquarters in Taiwan, production and delivery of systems with Intel Cougar Point Chipsets has been halted. Customers who have already purchased a system with this hardware may exchange it.
Taipei, Taiwan (February 1, 2011) — Intel® on January 31, 2011 announced the detection of a design error in the new Sandy Bridge-based Intel® 6 Series support chip, also known as Cougar Point. The shipment of existing Sandy Bridge products has been suspended by Intel®, and the production of an updated support chip has commenced. The design error affects only the support chip, and not 2nd generation Intel® Core™ processors such as the i5 and i7.
Acting on our philosophy and promise of inspiring innovation and persistent perfection, we've created a comprehensive response to this development to safeguard the best interest of ASUS customers around the world. We will provide total warranty services to maximize computing and usability, as each ASUS product is delivered with an uncompromising quality pledge. This includes the hassle-free return and/or replacement of all affected ASUS products. We’re doing all this effective immediately – and as a first step, shipments of current ASUS Sandy Bridge-based products have been halted. The suspension covers all distribution and retail channels — ASUS only sells quality-assured products, at all times and across all product segments.
For all customers who already own any ASUS product affected by the design error identified by Intel®, simply visit event.asus.com/2011/SandyBridge/notice for detailed warranty and service hotline information. We’ll be happy to address any questions or concerns you may have regarding this issue, as well as provide information on future updates to Sandy Bridge technology.
ASUS notebook and desktop products are covered by a warranty service that addresses the design error, with both swap and sales return offered as options to customers.
For motherboards, we’ve confirmed with Intel® that the Cougar Point design error does not affect SATA ports 0 and 1. Additionally, ASUS has been a pioneer in including extra SATA 3Gb/s and SATA 6Gb/s ports beyond Intel® specifications on a wide range of motherboards. These ports are not affected by this design error, offering customers an option for uninterrupted computing. However, we’re also offering you the option of returning any possibly affected motherboard for a swap or sales return. All warranties for affected motherboards will be reset to give you enough time to carry out any exchanges.
ASUS has also started an initiative to contact customers regarding this issue, and we’ll cover all channel partners, distributors and registered buyers of affected ASUS products. As mentioned above, you may opt to return any affected products to ASUS for a swap or sales return.
We’ll post updates through our official website and other channels regarding any developments or fixes to Sandy Bridge products. Thank you for your understanding, support and cooperation, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
Sincerely, ASUS
Dell: has released an international statement, saying that the following series: XPS 8300, Vostro 460, Alienware M17x R.3, Alienware Aurora R.3, and XPS 17 (3D version) are affected by the defect.
Dell and Intel are in communication regarding the design issue in the recently released Intel 6 Series (Sandy Bridge) support chip, code-name Cougar Point. This affects four currently-available Dell products, the XPS 8300, the Vostro 460, the Alienware M17x R.3 and the Alienware Aurora R.3, as well as several other planned products including XPS 17 with 3D. We’re committed to addressing this with customers who have already purchased one of the four products and will provide further details on this as it becomes available.
Fujitsu: No official statement as of now. Fujitsu claims, however, to be examining the situation and will make a statement if need be.
Gigabyte: Gigabyte has stopped the delivery of all mainboards with Sandy Bridge chip sets.
Taipei, Taiwan – February 1, 2011 – GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co., Ltd, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards and other computing hardware solutions, today announced that GIGABYTE has been alerted by Intel about a 6 series chipset design error. GIGABYTE is working closely with Intel® to minimize the inconvenience to customers and retail stores with regard to related issues.
A recent statement from Intel indicates that they expect full 6 series chipset volume recovery in April, 2011. GIGABYTE will produce and deliver new motherboards with the updated Intel 6 series chipset when the new chipsets become available. GIGABYTE prides itself in having the highest service quality in the industry, and as such we will resolve this issue with minimal impact on our customers.
Lenovo is working together with Intel on a solution.
MSI:On 1 February we spoke over the phone with Marketing Manager Sascha Faber, who told us that MSI is already working on a solution. In terms of Notebooks, only the High-End GT680 gaming notebook should definitely be affected, which was very recently presented at the CES 2011. According to MSI's calculations, none of these are supposed to have reached customers yet. For other products potentially affected by the chip bug, MSI will be accepting returns, exchanges or offering other solutions depending on the case at hand. Faber emphasized in the phone conversation that MSI's primary concern is the quality of their products and that MSI arduously and thoroughly tests their products. In an international statement, MSI points out that distribuition of Mainboards with H67 and P67 has also been stopped.
2 February, 2011. MSI has been informed by Intel about the design issues in the Intel 6 series chipsets. According to Intel the performance of some of the Intel SATA ports on Intel 6 series products can degrade over time. MSI takes the quality of our products very serious, so at this moment we are investigating product batches that may be affected and, meanwhile, have stopped all shipments to our distributors and resellers. Additionally, we asked resellers to hold sales of the Intel 6 series based MSI products to customers until the issue can be resolved.
Products in the market As of the 31st of January MSI informed all our distributors, retails and reseller to stop directly the sales of Intel 6 series based products of MSI and to hold any products pending shipments to customers. No need to worry in the case that you purchased an Intel 6 series based product form MSI after the 31st of January because we will take care for you. Consumers can check the section “How to get serviced”.
We started the procedure to collect all the current stock in the market. Retailers and reseller can return their Intel 6 series MSI products they have in stock to their point of purchase (distributor) which can return the goods to the MSI distribution centers. If retailers, resellers or MSI distributors have any questions about the procedure they can contact their local MSI sales representative.
Affected models At this moment there are only a limit models in the market based on the Intel 6 series chipset. You can identify them based on the model name in the list below.
How to get serviced We want you to have a MSI product which you can trust and rely on. This is why we have 2 choices for your purchased Intel 6 series based MSI products;
1. Product swap If you are confident and willing to wait we can swap your current Intel 6 series based product in a brand new MSI product which is based on the new B3 stepping of the Intel 6 series which solves the current SATA2 port issues. If you have an MSI 6 series mainboard you can – for the short term - connect your storage devices to the safe white SATA3 ports on your mainboard, for more detailed instructions please click here.
This MSI product you get swapped will have similar or better specs. These new MSI products will become available in April and this way you will miss your product only for a very short period of time. You can identify the new products by a clear sticker on the color box. We will release details about this procedure before the end of February.
2. Product return If you are not confident about your current MSI based 6 series product MSI offers you the possibility to return the product to your point of purchase which will credit you. Please make sure to back-up your personal data.
Hotline information If you have any questions about the Intel 6 series chipset issue or if you are not sure which alternative SATA ports to use on your mainboard, or you want to know how to return your product you can always contact the MSI Hotlines in your region. Our people are ready to support you with your questions because your satisfaction is very important for us.
NEC: Delays observed in 4 PC models.
Samsung: Refunds for 6 models in Korea and 1 device in the USA.
Schenker Notebooks: According to Schenker, very few of their Notebooks should be affected. In Shenker's entier Portfolio, only the recently released mySN XMG A501, XMG P501 and XMG P701 are equipped with current Intel Sandy Bridge processors. the mySN XMG A701 model has not yet been distributed and, for the time being, sales of this notebook have been suspended.
Intel has informed us on 31.01.2011 of the structural flaw in the newest 6-series chipsets aka "Cougar Point". Some Shenker notebooks may be affected.
Schenker Notebooks has taken the following position:
According to Intel, only a small number of these chipsets are affected by this problem, and then only after a period of up to 36 months do any problems arise. But since the problem has not been definitively identified, production and delivery of potentially affected products has been temporarily suspended.
* Which models might be affected? *
XMG A501, XMG P501 and XMG P701
* What exactly is the problem? *
The problem has to do with the SATA II ports within the device, by means of which only the optical disc drive is controlled in the XMG A501 and in addition to that the e-SATA port in the XMG P501/P701. In all models, HDDs and SSDs as well as the e-SATA port in the XMG A501, on the other hand, are connected through SATA-III ports.
* What issues might come up? *
Within 36 months, some device might exhibit progressively worsening performance of communication between the optical disc drive or e-SATA port and the mainboard. In extreme cases, the optical disc drive or e-SATA port will no longer be recognized by the system.
* How is Schenker Notebooks dealing with already-distributed devices? *
Uprgraded mainboard should be available in April 2011. We are currently giving out vouchers for free pick-up/send-in and exchange of potentially affected mainboards. Exchanges will be handled in the order requests are received in order to ensure a short waiting period. We are trying our hardest to keep repairs to a minimum time (max. 48 hours on-site repair time).
* How are recent orders of to-be-delivered notebooks being handled? *
Customers will be contacted BEFORE further processing of orders and further action will then be discussed. The choices available are to stop delivery and wait for the new mainboards available in April (that is, to cancel the order) or to deliver the notebook with the guarantee that the mainboard will be exchanged come April.
* When will the notebooks once again be available? *
We expect them to be available in April and plan to increase our production capacity in order to quickly clear up the congestion of orders that will have built up until that point. Orders will be processed in the order they come in (except for NN Express). For pre-paid orders, please do not pay until we can name a more specific delivery date.
Toshiba: Toshiba USA is currently giving full refunds for the following series: Satellite A660, A665, A665 3D, E305, L655, M645, Portege R835, Qosmio X500 and X505.
Use of any software made available for download from this system constitutes your acceptance of the Export Control Terms and the terms in the Toshiba end-user license agreement both of which you can view before downloading any such software.
Information:
Intel Chipset Design Issue
Effective January 31, 2011, Intel announced a design issue with the Intel 6 Series chipset. This Intel design issue affects a limited number of Toshiba laptops released for sale on or after January 9, 2011.
The following are the only Toshiba models affected by this issue:
Note: If you purchased a Satellite A660 from Toshiba Direct, with a Core i7 2630QM quad-core processor, you will be contacted directly by Toshiba.
Intel has announced that 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.
At this time, Toshiba requests you return the product to the place of purchase for a full refund. You should back up your data and remove any confidential, proprietary or personal information before returning the product.
Thank you for choosing Toshiba.
Velocity Micro (PC manufacturer): Measures to be taken judged on case-by-case basis.
Online Shops
Alternate: Alternate has suspended all orders for products containing Sandy Bridge chipsets. Customers have the choice of canceling their orders or choose a suitable alternative model. Customers may also wait till mainboards with defect-free Sandy Bridge chipsets can be delivered.
Intel informed us yesterday that the motherboard chipsets of the Intel 6 Express Series have exhibited a hardware defect. Motherboards with LGA1155 sockets for processors of the Core i3-2000, Core i5-2000 and Core i7-2000 series are affected. The SATA-II controller in these models may lose processing power with time. Hard drives, optical disc drives or other devices might end up not being recognized by the SATA-II controller. There is no way to fix the problem. Such errors do not occur in devices connected through SATA-III ports, however, according to Intel. The following Products are affected:
• Motherboards with Intel H67, P67 or Q67 chipsets. • Notebooks, Barebones and ready-made PCs, equipped with motherboards based on Intel H67, P67 or Q67 chipsets.
But don't worry, we take care of our customers and will work with you to quickly to find the best solution.
"I have ordered one of the affected products from ALTERNATE but have not yet received it":
All not-yet-processed orders that include affected models have been suspended. We will contact you shortly to resolve this issue. You may cancel your order, choose an alternative model with the help of our sales staff, or wait until motherboards with defect-free Sandy Bridge chips can be delivered.
In case you have a customer account with ALTERNATE, you can check the status of your order online. Suspended orders will appear as "in Klärung", meaning, "to be resolved". In case your package is already on its way, you can either refuse delivery or make use of the following options:
"I ordered and have already received one of the affected models from ALTERNATE":
In this case, you have the following three options:
1. You will receive a replacement from us as soon as one is available along with packaging for sending back the defective product. You must send back the defective product in the packaging provided to ALTERNATE (to be paid for by ALTERNATE).
2. You first receive the product and wait for ALTERNATE's exclusive Pickup & Return Service: As soon as Intel can ship out motherboards with defect-free chipsets, we will send you a new device and the package carrier will take away your defective product along with accessories included in the original package.
3. You may use our free DHL return shipping service, send the defective product back to us, and receive a credit voucher.
Whichever option you choose, you will not incur any additional costs.
If you have any questions about your defective product or about what to do next, please send an e-mail to us at [email protected] or reach us by phone at +49 6403/9050 3080 between 9:00 and 18:00 GMT +1.
Mindfactory: Online retailer, Mindfactory, informs its customers about motherboards with Intel LGA1155 sockets below. Mindfactory is giving their customers 3 ways to further handle the issue.
Following the announcements from Intel, we would like to inform you about further actions dealing with Intel motherboards containing Intel LGA1155 sockets. Errors only occur under special circumstances. You might not come into contact with these errors with your current settings. We nevertheless would like to provide you with the following three options for resolving the issue. Please read all the options carefully.
1. If you do not encounter any errors, please continue using your device. A new defect-free chipset is due to appear during the second fiscal quarter of this year, upon which you may trade in your defective motherboard.
2. If your device becomes unusable due to errors, please send us the motherboard to receive a credit voucher.
3. Of course, even if you do not encounter any errors, you may still send the motherboard back to us. We will credit the purchase price to you.
If you choose the first option, you do not have to take any further action. As soon as the new defect-free chipset becomes available, we will announce it on our website, letting you know about the option of exchanging your motherboard.
If you have ordered and are waiting for delivery of an affected product, we regret to tell you that we cannot currently send out any more Intel motherboards with LGA1155 sockets. You may change or cancel your order. Please inform us of your decision using your processing or order number and we will process your request right away.
We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.
NewEgg (Online Retailer) has removed Sandy Bridge-based mainboards and PCs as well as Sandy Bridge CPUs from the website.
Deutsch
Español
Français
Italiano
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Русский
Türkçe
Svenska
Chinese
Magyar