Sandy Bridge Debacle: What It Means for You
Hot on the heels of Intel's recall stop-shipment of its series-6 chipset, we spoke to several motherboard and system manufacturers about what's going to happen for them, and their customers.
First, the 6-series chipset is Cougar Point, and not "Sandy Bridge" as referred to by most reports -- strangely, even most motherboard vendors call it "Sandy Bridge." We reckon this is something Intel needs to clarify with motherboard makers in order to make things a little more clear.
Second, the error lies in Cougar Point's SATA 2 controller, which at this time, is identified to degrade performance over time. But, what does this mean for motherboard and system manufacturers:
According to several major manufacturers that we spoke to, customers are calling asking to return stock. Since mass quantities of boards and systems have already been sold into the channel, systems builders are still waiting for official word from Intel on what to do. Surprisingly, top management at companies like Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, etc., did not even hear about this issue until this morning -- when everyone else found out.
This is definitely a major roadblock for Intel, and it means several things for you as a customer:
- If you've bought a Sandy Bridge system, you may be entitled to a free replacement.
Manufacturers told us that revised motherboards and notebooks based are unlikely to appear until at least April of this year, and Intel probably won't be supplying new chipset revisions until early to mid-March. However, replacements are unclear as manufacturers are informing us that details need to be worked out with Intel on how customers will be handled.
Intel claims that only 5 to 15-percent of owners will experience the flaw over time. But speaking with manufacturers, we were told that numbers appear to be far greater than that. Some companies told us that this is definitely a "panic-mode" situation for them.
Motherboards that you already have today will still work, but you may see performance drop over time on the SATA 2 ports. If you are only utilizing SATA 3 (6gbps), then you will not encounter the issue.
- If you're thinking about a Sandy Bridge system, you will have to wait until at least April.
Clearly, buying a Sandy Bridge system isn't what anyone should be doing at this moment. Newegg has delisted both Cougar Point motherboards and Sandy Bridge CPUs.
- Desktops, notebooks, servers utilising 6-series chipsets are affected.
This is a widespread problem affecting all products that are based on Cougar Point. Notebooks and up-coming Xeon-based servers may take longer than motherboards to see replacements become widely available.
- Expect delays in new availability.
Some companies told us that there is some shortage of copper and other materials from the manufacturing side. This could further introduce delays beyond an April time frame.
- Sandy Bridge and Cougar Point updates.
Intel is expected to hold several conference calls with major manufacturers today and let them know how the situation will be handled. We'll have more details for you later this afternoon.
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I guess this isn't the real problem with SB, the REAL problem with SB is it doesn't play Crysis.
Time for AMD to strike. It's now or never.
Yes, please keep us informed of new updates. I was planning on buying sandy bridge in a few weeks...
This debacle may cause some to switch over to AMD. It seems like Intel is handling the situation well at least.
My Asus P8P67 Pro MoBo arrives at my house today from Newegg... Should I send it back or keep it?
This isn't too big of deal (for me my brother at least) since we made a system using the SATA 3.0 port... I am guessing many other builders have as well.
So..can us Sandy Bridge owners just plug our SATA II devices into the SATA III ports until the recall starts?
I just want a replacement free of charge when ever the new motherboards arrive. That will be nice. I'll never switch to AMD.
Wait until April? Ouch. I'll give Intel credit for manning up though.
This debacle may cause some to switch over to AMD. It seems like Intel is handling the situation well at least.
Why? You think people will hold off for Bulldozer processors, which don't even have a firm release date yet, and are going to have the same sort of "early adapter" risk as the new Intel chips had? Or that they'll decide to invest in last-gen AMD processors? Seems unlikely.
Right now, AMD doesn't have anything to satisfy people that want new tech as quickly as possible. While this could obviously hurt Intel, depending on how they handle this setback and without a real alternative to Sandy Bridge CPUs, it seems people would be just as likely (if not more so) to wait until Intel takes care of the issue as they would be to decide to wait and see if Bulldozer delivers.
The perfect moment for AMD to bring their bulldozer
Awww man this is kind of disheartening
. I was just planning to upgrade my MOBO and throw down some money for DDR3 and a Sandy Bridge chip. Now I'm going to hold out until I start hearing news stories with "All Clear -- Purchase Purchase PURCHASE!"
It's hardware problems like this that can severely cripple a good product and even have people pass over, switch sides, or wait for the next generation CPU "Ivy Bridge" possible later this year.
Now I don't know what I should do, I guess wait it out and keep my eye out on the progress.
wow i was just about to hit order to...guess ill have to wait till march or so
Im curious like hell, what kind of error would cause the chip set to eat itself alive, is this planned redundancy gone wrong? i figure this can't be a material degradation issue because, well if intel doesn't know the best material to use for a chip set then there's no hope for sandy bridge. It's even more interesting that this is a cumulative error, how is it possible to have a cumulative error??????
This industry has always been a pain-in-the-ass for "early adopters."
I guess I'll have to wait on buying a new system. This really blows, as I was just about to order one anyway.
Is there any way around the problem for the current stock. As in, can someone still build a SB platform without ever running into this problem.. or just plugging in to a different port?
Time for AMD to strike. It's now or never.
Come on, Bulldozer!!! Where are you right now?!
Should I laugh or cry?
Just scrapped my 6 year old dinosaur for a new sandy bridge build on Friday. It's still in the mail
It only bugs 5% of chipsets! Stop freaking out. Buy if your ready. Performance degradation over time. It's not gonna blow up. And it's throuput performance at that. A cheap sata card will circumvent it if your one of the small %. NO BIG DEAL! Hell just buy a 6G/s (Sata 3) hard drive if your that worried.
And if you do notice and issue..it's a known issue and they will replace your board! So laugh and enjoy your new system : )
I'll still buy one in a couple months....."Sata 6 Gb/s ports are unaffected" which is what I use. So, yes it does suck for Sata 3 port users.
So..can us Sandy Bridge owners just plug our SATA II devices into the SATA III ports until the recall starts?
as far as I know that is the workaround. On Asus P8P67 boards the SATA 3 ports are white (aka gray).
Strokes my ancient 775 and AMD systems.
I suppose I should tell my friend to hold off on a SB build.
NO BIG DEAL!
Sarcasm? Troll Bait? This is not funny for someone (myself) who just dropped over a Grand on a new system.
thank god i delayed to buy an SB on friday for next week....
im looking to replace my 4 years old system with an i5 2500
phew....
Hi, so i just want confirm.... its only the 3.0 ports?
so i can use my old sata HD on the lets say 2 6.0 ports for the HDs so avoid the risk?
seriosly i cannot wait that long for the new rev. hoping the fault are falling in prize. since ireally want new rig for shogun 2 total war 15.marts....
Wish i knew when the lga 2011 socket is coming out so i could decide if i should go with 1155 or just wait.
The perfect moment for AMD to bring their bulldozer
Yes, a lot of people have been saying this. Now would be the perfect time for AMD to bust out a new high performance architecture. Sorry to kill the excitement, but there's a problem, Bulldozer's been delayed... again. I believe the latest update was H2 2011, and it doesn't get anymore specific then that.
Time for AMD to strike. It's now or never.
Strike with what? Bulldozer? been hearing about that for what 2 years now? I'll bet real moneny when it does come out at some point in time this year it will lag well behind SandyBridge leaving AMD a generation behind....again.
I didn't plan on a new system built until May but it wouldn't matter to me since I'll be using the 6 Gb/s ports anyway. I never buy/build a new system until the latest and greatest has been in the field a few months.
SB works very well at this point for me with an ASUS P7 motherboard and a 2600K. This bug will start to affect me or other users in a year or so and by then I expect to have a clear idea on returns with Intel and ASUS. Anyway I will be backing up my system and files. But SB 2600K rockkss!!!