*****SANDYBRIDGE MOTHERBOARD CHIPSET ISSUE*****

Hi there


The potential problem as outlined by Intel® is as follows:-

In some cases, motherboards featuring the 6 Series Chipset (P67 & H67) that have Sata devices connected to ports 2-5 could potentially degrade over time.
Motherboards with devices connected to Ports 0 & 1 remain unaffected or using the 6G ports.
PLEASE NOTE THERE IS NO POTENTIAL ISSUE TO SANDYBRIDGE PROCESSORS, this communication refers only to Sandybridge motherboards using P67 & H67 chipset ONLY.


OcUK has been advised by Intel that there may be a potential issue regarding Sandy Bridge and the P67 Chipset.

There is considered to be no immediate threat, and Intel recommends customers not to panic, as this is, at this stage, considered to be a precautionary measure.

OcUK are in discussion with Intel as to the finer details of the issue, and at present there is no need for customers to return products, and this will continue to be the case until such time as Intel advise on any necessary course of action.

In light of these events, OcUK has left Sandybridge based products on sale and should any issues arise all customers will be covered, we shall be adding disclaimers to all P67 mainboards tomorrow stating this and that all customers will be covered.

All customers will be contacted once we have received a definitive Returns Procedure from Intel, should this be the case.

At present, there is no immediate threat / danger / risk of damage to CPUs, Motherboards or Systems, and we urge that customers continue to use their systems as normal.

Any required replacements will be handled efficiently, and any further updates will be announced via the website and forums.

At this time, we would request that customers do not contact us with regards to this issue, as we are of course fully aware, and will publish all information as we have it via our website and forums.

Please avoid contacting us regarding this particular issue as it just swallows up resources, where the information has already been made available via our website/forums, and we will continue to inform of any updates ongoing etc.


So right now its all a bit of an unknown, we shall know a lot more over the next couple of days and if a recall is actioned instructions shall be posted on the website and forum.

As we know more we shall pass it onto our customers.

If anyone has any questions feel free to contact me via email in my Trust.

Nice comms guys, you do know the drama queens ares till crying right QQ

ANOTHER UPDATE FROM ASUS:-

Dear Partner

As you know Intel have issued a press statement regarding the potential issue in up to 5% of sandy bridge boards on the market, please be aware this is not a definite fault in all boards, but up to 5% of boards may develop the fault.

We are currently confirming our official statement and plan of action and will update you accordingly.

Thanks
Asus

Yeah those drama queens spending £180-£300 on hardware that have a confirmed hardware defect.

e: Thanks for the ASUS update Gibbo

Interesting seeing the comparisons between the obvious boilerplate document from Intel above and on "another site"

31/01/2011 - POTENTIAL PROBLEM

The potential problem as outlined by Intel® is as follows:-

In some cases, motherboards featuring the 6 Series Chipset (P67 & H67) that have Sata devices connected to ports 2-5 could potentially degrade over time.

Motherboards with devices connected to Ports 0 & 1 remain unaffected.
ACTION

31/01/2011

We have been advised by Intel that there may be a potential issue regarding Sandy Bridge and the P67 Chipset.

There is considered to be no immediate threat, and Intel urges customers not to panic or be alarmed, as this is, at this stage, considered to be a precautionary measure.

X are in discussion with Intel as to the finer details of the issue, and at present there is no need for customers to return products, and this will continue to be the case until such time as Intel advise on any necessary course of action.

In light of these events, X have decided to temporarily suspend all shipment of Sandy Bridge architecture until further notice.

All customers will be contacted over the next few days with regard to the current situation, once we have received a definitive Returns Procedure from Intel, should this be the case.

At present, there is no immediate threat / danger / risk of damage to CPUs, Motherboards or Systems, and we urge that customers continue to use their systems normally for the time being.

Any required replacements will be handled efficiently, and any further updates will be announced via the homepage on the X Website.

At this time, we would request that customers do not contact us with regards to this issue, as we are of course fully aware, and will publish all information as we have it via our website.

If there are any OTHER issues with regards to reporting problems with Y, then of course still do so in the usual way, however please avoid contacting us regarding this particular issue as it just swallows up resources on fielding calls, where the information has already been made available via our website, and we will continue to inform of any updates ongoing etc.

Any replacement parts will have their warranty period commence from the date that the replacement is shipped, therefore giving full warranty on the NEW part.

Click to expand...

Care to comment on the policy differences here Gibbo in light of the fact this advisory has clearly come from Intel direct?

Particularly concerned about the warranty omission...

I personally feel you should take the motherboards off the website or at least advise not to use the Sata II ports as they are the ones that can cause your devices to die suddenly.

BigBruiserAl said:

Nice comms guys, you do know the drama queens ares till crying right QQ

Click to expand...

Christ,

To someone with a technical background this is very interesting.

To someone who has spent a lot on the board it is very concerning..

You may not be "worried" but there will be a lot of information coming out of this that is likely to be very interseting and worthy of digestion...

These things SHOULD NOT happen, somehow a fault that is by the sound of it quite prevalent has got through intels torture testing...

They then alledgedly discover it 3 weeks after release.....

I smell a rat here and I think there will be more to this that meets the eyes. I fully expect a product recall...

If you are not interested or think its unneccasary drama, read another thread.

So, should I build my system with my Asus P8P67 and i7-2600K arriving today? Or hold off until Asus and Intel release more information?

I wouldn't buy a motherborad based on a 6-series chipset.

Durzel said:

Interesting seeing the comparisons between the obvious boilerplate document from Intel above and on "another site"


Care to comment on the policy differences here Gibbo in light of the fact this advisory has clearly come from Intel direct?

Particularly concerned about the warranty omission...

Click to expand...

I think the phrase "taking the law into your own hands" is very appropriate in their case.

If that is the way they want to deal with it, then so be it.

However we are talking about OcUK here, not some corner shop.

I'd expect a corner shop to carry on selling things they know to be defective to be honest, not the other way around.

As someone who has spent £300 on a motherboard, from OCUK, I'm very concerned about the amendments to this advisory particularly the implied absence of renewed warranty on replaced parts.

Durzel said:

I'd expect a corner shop to carry on selling things they know to be defective to be honest, not the other way around.

As someone who has spent £300 on a motherboard, from OCUK, I'm very concerned about the amendments to this advisory particularly the implied absence of renewed warranty on replaced parts.

Click to expand...

My point being, you can't sell what you haven't got anyway. So why not kick up a fuss, especially if it will affect your competition and not yourself.

I think you will find these are dirty business tactics rather than "excellent" customer service.

Nice to see a quick post from OCers about this thanks!

NathWraith said:

My point being, you can't sell what you haven't got anyway. So why not kick up a fuss, especially if it will affect your competition and not yourself.

I think you will find these are dirty business tactics rather than "excellent" customer service.

Click to expand...

Ah right, ok fair enough. Hopefully you can appreciate a lot of people are probably feeling a bit anxious at the moment.

Durzel said:

Interesting seeing the comparisons between the obvious boilerplate document from Intel above and on "another site"


Care to comment on the policy differences here Gibbo in light of the fact this advisory has clearly come from Intel direct?

Particularly concerned about the warranty omission...

Click to expand...

That's strange as you can still purchase a system built by them with the MB. So one hand says they have stopped the purchase of boards and the other hand keeps quiet and keeps selling their systems.

it's a fair point that you're still actively promoting and shipping product that has been identified by intel as potentially defective and there's every chance there'll be some sort of recall/swapout so you're basically pouring petrol on that particular fire for the sake of your margin.

If you knew about the issues you'd be unlikely to buy now so the people buying are the ones who haven't heard and with you knowing full well there's a problem you probably shouldn't be selling to them.

Surely this is intels issue and if there's an impact to your business you should take it up with them and not pass it on to your customers?

What an embarrassment for Intel.

Use the tried and trusted method of waiting for the next iteration, never jump in head first

I know HP have shipped BL20p blade systems with known issues on *some* of the motherboards, these systems cost £10,000's per chassis and the company I worked for deployed 1000's of them.

So even company's like HP push out faulty products now and again, but its how they handle it which is key. In HP's case they sent out engineers with replacement boards to go to customer sites and do replacements, must have cost them a fortune, but they rectified the issue.

Intel have said they've put 700million aside for the recall, to pretend or suggest a recall might not happen is rather silly, seeing as you know a recall IS coming its rather proactive to cease Sandybridge sales asap rather than later on. Not least because customers who by in the last day and the next few days before official announcements will be the most angry and the most let down.

OCUK/anyone else had no way of knowing before now, as of the first announcement, you do know, everything beyond that is not dodgey but not exactly sold in good faith either.