Intel resumes shipping of faulty Sandy Bridge chipsets
The whole Intel chipset fiasco will have had a major effect on sales of Intel's new LGA1155 CPUs.
In a statement, Intel claims it decided to start reshipping the chipsets after lengthy discussions with computer manufacturers. 'As a result of these discussions and specific requests from computer makers,' says the company, 'Intel is resuming shipments of the Intel 6-series chipset for use only in PC system configurations that are not impacted by the design issue.'
The company also emphasises that 'only computer makers who have committed to shipping the Intel 6-series chipset in PC system configurations that are not impacted by the design issue will be receiving these shipments.'
The announcement follows Intel's recent exposure of a well publicised design fault that affects the 3Gbps SATA ports (typically ports 2 to 5) in Intel's P67 and H67 chipsets. As such, we assume that the new systems based on the faulty chipsets will either come with a separate SATA controller card, or that they will only use the two (unaffected) 6Gbps SATA ports provided by the chipset.
The decision to reship the unrevised silicon will also enable certain laptop manufacturers to continue using the chipsets, as their products are only ever likely to use two SATA ports in their lifetime anyway. Indeed it’s likely to be in their interests to use the defective chipsets, as we can only imagine that Intel is applying a hefty discount to the chips to get them shifted.
In the meantime, Intel also says it's now started manufacturing new versions of the chipsets with a silicon fix to solve the 3Gbps SATA problems, and that these will start shipping in mid-February. However, consumers aren't likely to see revised boards for a good while yet, as it will take a number of weeks for board partners to install the new chips, and then ship the updated boards over from Asia. Intel currently estimates that full production of boards based on Intel's 6-series chipsets won't be in full swing in April.
Have you been affected by the 6-series chipset debacle? Will you be replacing your board, or are you happy just sticking to the two SATA 6Gbps ports? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
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Discuss in the forums ReplyEdit: Just seen the comment above, might be worth trying to upgrade to a z68 board, could be a decent choice if not better in the long run, if were able to.
I'm thinking on doing the same thing, i'll pay a little extra and get the Z68 chipset...
I can't wait for a revised chipset as the system is unusable.
With boards pulled out of most shops (including the one whjere I ordered mine) it looks like it's gonna be a real pain to get it replaced by another non revised board.
There's always something newer and shiny round the corner to upgrade to...
To my understanding of the SB chipset fault, it relates to SATA devices and that they might degrade over time when plugged into the 3GB ports (an estimated 5%-15% over 3 years, however some more and others less, as the estimate is based on a probability distribution). I'm not sure how the CPU errors you mention have anything to do with the chipset issue as described by Intel.
He wasn't saying that his problem was to do with the chipset issue discussed but that he had this problem on top of it. Because of the SATA problem he can't get the board replaced as they've all been pulled, yet in the meantime his system is out of action.
Exactly !
Thank you :)
I've had p8p67 pro issues too. The half the SATA ports don't work, I get blue screens jumping at me out of nowhere every few days and I can't hibernate without crashing.
I'm fairly confident that many X58 owners will not switch to X68 unless it will be SIGNIFICANTLY faster in everyday work - benchmarks are for nerds/showing off only. At the moment "poor old" X58 is perfect for everything from every day PC, through gaming/folding/oc rig, up to powerful A/V workstations & servers. LGA 1155(6) will never achieve that because of limited bandwidth available.
If you buying PC now forget intel-67, go with X58. It is established on the market, there is plenty of cheap boards which do exactly same things as top of the line models without many useless additions. And most important there is plenty of fuel in the tank for i7 9xx CPUs.
You have native SATA 6gbps support, much faster processors, etc, etc, etc. Yeah benchmarks are for weenies...but the sandy bridge processors are just plain faster clock for clock and have higher clock speeds available, seem to over clock better and consume less power.
Yeah, sounds like H/P/Z67 has nothing going for it except allowing those Sandy bridge processors which happen to be >>> first gen i3/5/7.
- I'm upgrading from a Q6600
- 1366 platforms are more expensive
- 1156 platforms are now useless
- 1155 is a lot more power efficient than 775/1156/1366 especially when overclocking
- I upgraded before the SATA fiasco came to light
Also, the Sales of Goods act may not apply to me if I willingly purchase a product that is known to be defective. Too much of a risk really.
In response to email 8-2-2011.
We are unable to refund or replace your mother board.
As advised in the previous email, please return to your point of purchase.
So I might be stuck with a faulty mobo (other than just sata) since pixmania doesn't sell the P67 boards anymore.,Unable to ask for a refund, or get it swapped for a SATA defective model ... that's just awesome, I'll need to buy another defective mobo (provided scan.co.uk doesn't run out) to fix my issues :(
Will need to talk to pixmania but it's not looking good.
I moved from 775 to 1155 keeping the same windows install without any issue. Windows was looking for new drivers when it first booted, I installed them and that was it.
It's usually better and cleaner to reinstall but it's not really a requirement.
Windows migth need to be reactivated though.
Win 7 and Vista both deal pretty well with an existing install of Windows being booted on new hardware, and yes, the OEM version is cheaper.
Personally I've just had to put my upgrade plans on hold for at least 6 months, my car's just decided to blow it's head gasket, and then I'm moving house in a few months. After all that hopefully all these issues will be fixed (plus in 6 months there'll be new kit out, and existing stuff will be a bit cheaper so it's no hardship I guess)
I built a system that I thought would be ideal. I am already sick of it. It won't stay stable for more than 30 mins before blue screening. I bought the 2500 as I wasn't interested in overclocking it. There's not even a GPU in the system. I've tried changing the few settings that I can but nothing helps.
The sooner the new boards are out, the sooner this goes back.
i dont mean to rub it in anyones face, but all the asus horror stories make me all the happier i went against the grain and got a GB board. its been flawless so far. the only "problem" i have is the board posts so fast that i barely have time to get into the bios :)
Holy ****, me too.
Yep, am running the 0401 bios. I would have responded sooner if it hadn't blue screened trying. (I have also run memtest on the ram, using my other machine and both sticks work perfectly)
My advice for those of you thinking of moving to Sandybridge architecture now would be to get all the other bits you need such as CPU (assuming all of you are going for the i2500k), DDR3 RAM (check the tasty deal listed in the Marketplace forum), shiny GFX etc, bit by bit as you get paid to spread the cost, and wait to get your mobo until they sort the revised versions in April/May.
Don't bother buying one now, seriously, it's not worth the hassle to go through the returns process, never mind the fact you'll need to dismantle your system and possibly be without a computer (although I would imagine most of us here have a notebook as well as a desktop) while they send you a new board.
I'd even go as far as to suggest the likelihood of this would increase substantially knowing there may be discounts on this defective product to the OEM's. Something tells me there would be nothing included outside of the tiny-print that warns average Joe that his new shiny machine is built with potentially duff components.
"...you are hereby notified that any attempt to use one of the SATA 3Gbps ports on P67 or H67 chipsets is not recommended and unsupported due to the way our products are custom built for you and will invalidate the warrantee..."
The whole issue is a non issue to 90% of us though..I mean who really has a 3 yrold system here? But I'd wait for Z68 anyway. For resale if nothing else so buyer does not have to fret.
I'd wager a lot more than 90% of the computers in daily use are more than 3 years old...
as much as i'd live a new cruncher, my spec still holds out well for all that i need it to do - E6400, p5w DH Deluxe, 2GB, 4Hdd ~2TB... and a x1950 pro, yes i sorely want an update, but the cash machine says no...
Still on an old system here (skt 939 X2, 2GB DDR, HD4850), does most of what I need.
I looked into Sandy Bridge, but as is the same for some people at the moment the cash machine says no - although I might hold out for skt 2011
I'm guessing these will be used in laptop and boxes that will not offer the sata connectivity to the faulty ports on the chipsets. ---> no problem, ever
Me, I'm using a 3 yr old laptop and I just upgraded my 6yr old desktop to a faulty p8p67 pro. I should have just gone for a previous generation core i5 system, would have cost half as much and been twice as reliable.
ehh, have you checked prices on 1156 kit lately? the price hasnt dropped. a 2500K is only $20 more than the i5-750 is still selling for...and p55/p67 mobos are about the same price.
thats why i upgraded my fiancée to sandy bridge when our original plan was p55/i5.
Nah, but there are plenty who just keep on selling the faulty ones at the normal prices...
i dont see why anyone would get a discount.
It's the only statement you need to make, if you do not recoup some compensation, small claims court.
Don't stand for it.