Intel's Chip Issue

Intel's Sandy Bridge chipset Issue

Last week customers started telling Intel that there was an issue in Sandy Bridge's Cougar Point chipset. As intel confirmed, but not in 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.  The issues were Affecting 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.  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.  8 million chips were reported.  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. Intel has corrected the design issue, and has begun manufacturing a new version of the chipset which will resolve the issue. Intel estimates that the full financial cost of the error will be around $700 million, with $300 million of that incurred during the first quarter due to the production interruption. Intel expects to begin delivering the updated version of the chipset to customers in late February and expects full volume recovery in April.

“It appears like another consumer test at its best.  I believe it affects the consumer more than corporate.  Which is good, being able to catch it at its test stages help to ensure it will be flawless when it’s finally launched?”