Intel have just recalled the new Sandy Brige-based Intel 6 Series support chip – Cougar Point – thanks to a flaw in their design and, even more unfortunately, this Series 6 chipset is inside pretty much all the Sandy Bridge based PCs and laptops. It is not a brilliant moment for Intel, and has left no small number of people a tad dismayed.
The problem boiled down to concerns that the SATA ports running inside the chips could degrade over time resulting in issues in performance with the SATA-linked devices. Not great. However, this design flaw only affects the support chip and not the second generation Intel Core processors like the i5 and i7.
So while Intel frantically recall the Cougar Point system controllers, ASUS have stepped in to ensure that their customers are kept nice and informed. ASUS announced that they have stopped the shipment and sale of all Sandy Bridge based products.
They are also providing a total warranty service that includes the hassle-free return and/or replacement of affected ASUS products. There is an entire slice of the web dedicated to the support of ASUS customers who are being affected by the Sandy Bridge issue and they even had a hotline if you want to speak to someone about it.
This is a pretty impressive response to the situation. There are few things more frustrating than being left in the dark when an issue like this occurs. So, if you happen to be one of the people who has been affected, please do visit the site and find out more about your options.
ASUS have also confirmed that the Cougar Point design doesn’t affect SATA ports 0 and 1 on motherboards, and the extra SATA 3Gb/s and SATA 6 Gb/s ports are not affected by the design error either, so you get uninterrupted computing options as an ASUS motherboard owner.
So, before you start waving your arms in the air and running up and down the room screaming, there is help. Check it out.