Sandy Bridge Chipsets Defective!!

Intel has just announced it has a major (my words not Intel's) flaw in the current Sandy Bridge Chipset which is called.Intel 6 Cougar Point. I have seen two contradictory statements as to what boards are involved, but it just the motherboard and not the processor itself.  Intel estimates that it will cost them around $700 million to correct this problem
"In some cases, the Serial-ATA (SATA) ports within the chipsets may degrade over time, potentially impacting the performance or functionality of SATA-linked devices such as hard disk drives and DVD-drives," the Intel statement read.
See Harm was right in discouraging using these chips!!

Good point, Scott. I'll put one RAID on the rear panel USB/eSATA combination connectors. I wasn't too worried about losing my system drive. I actually have two F4s and was planning to clone the C: drive after installing the OS, CS5 etc anyways.
For those who haven't looked it up, the problem is that the 3Gbps SATA connection may degrade over a long period of time until the bit error rate climbs and eventually the connected drive woudn't be seen. There's no reported danger of data loss or drive damage and the likelihood of a connection failing is linked to voltage, heat and throughput. In other words, the failure rate for video editors might be 15 or 20% over three years instead of the 5% figure that has been bandied about. The problem is apparently due to a "rogue transistor" or metal layer problem in the old tech SATAII connectors. 
As far as a RAID card goes, I'm trying to keep it relatively simple for now as I anticipate upgrading to Ivy when it comes out and hope to get an Areca 1880 (or equivalent) at that time.

Similar Messages

  • Intel finds errors in Sandy Bridge chipset

    I just saw this announcement that Intel has found design flaws in the new Sandy Bridge chipset and it looks like there will be a recall. I just bought a Satellite A660 with the i7-2630qm which has the Intel 6 series chipset in question. What a disappointment! I guess that's the risk you take when you buy new technology. I hope Toshiba will fix this for those who already have this processor. I was thinking about returning this model anyway and now I really want to get rid of it.
    Solved!
    Go to Solution.

    Thanks for the response, Jim, but I'd like to register my disappointment with Toshiba's decision.  I *like* my new Satellite and I'd much prefer to get it fixed.  I'd like to point out that a certain competitor (rhymes with 'bell') is offering a refund, replace, or repair three-option solution.  Toshiba's one size fits all solution, which really only benefits Toshiba and not their customers, looks pretty poor by comparison.  I hope Toshiba reconsiders.
    Mike

  • Intel Z68 Sandy Bridge chipset and SSD caching....

    For those of us considering a move to the Sandy Bridge/Z68 platform, we will eventually need to sort out whether to take advantage of the chipset's ability to "improve" ONE hard drive with a smallish (64GB or less) SSD.
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    Question: If a user followed Harm's and other's suggestions in setting up a basic 3- or 4-drive computer, which drive should take the cheapo SSD?
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    1) Assume the Z68 platform is loaded with all 16GB of memory that the four-slot Socket 1155 motherboard can typically accept. Would CS5 or 5.5 load enough program data into RAM to render placing the SSD on the OS drive for editing with Premiere minimally beneficial? Or would it simply make sense to put the SSD on the OS drive for so many other reasons that it's a no-brainer?
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    3) Good grief. If it doesn't go on the OS or primary media drive supplying footage, where else? Projects disk? Scratch drive?
    4) Might the most useful thing be to avoid setting up a RAID while getting some of the speed benefits a RAID 0 offers? Many casual users can build a straightforward computer but have never set up a RAID array, even a 2-disk RAID 0.
    40GB SSD's are under $100 now. I suspect a lot of people will use this feature of the Z68, if the hybrid drive isn't hard to set up and is reliable. I'm curious how the Premiere crowd will make use of this feature, and will it make a palpable difference on a relatively simple editing rig? No Areca RAID cards and only 16GB memory. Nothing more than 3 or 4 single drives.

    Frankly I don't see how an inexpensive SSD would help the "caching" for editing with Premiere CS5, since a typical 7200 rpm 1TB drive can perform substained writes at about 2x what a typical small SSD does.
    Premiere CS5 continues to beg for lots of drives!
    Jim
    (one of the few "believers" in SSDs on this forum - and my "belief" is for OS and programs, not for input, media, caching, etc.)

  • I NEED HELP TO SOLVE MY SANDY BRIDGE CHIPSET ISSUE !!!

    Hi,
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    This is one of the machines affected by the Sandy Bridge issue, I checked many times... 
    I already registered the Laptop
    Thanks in advance
    Manuel Ramirez
    This question was solved.
    View Solution.

    The product number of your laptop is XZ037UA#ABA (Here ABA means this particular model was sold in US only) . Where was this laptop purchased exactly and Where are you currently located? 
    HP provides a global warranty and ideally this should be covered at no additional cost. You can find more info at below link
    http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docnam​e=bpr01266&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_USE​...
    //Click on Kudos and Accept as Solution if my reply was helpful and answered your question//
    I am an HP employee!!

  • Intel finds Sandy Brigde chipset design flaw

    Hello!
    This is my first post at Apple forum, and my first post with new MBP 13''.
    I was searching for some news about new MacBook Pro (2011) and I found this:
    http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/31/intel-finds-sandy-bridge-chipset-design-flaw- shipments-stopped/
    I am a little worried because I bought the new model of macbook pro and I'm searching for some informations about it. I have checked the Intel website and I came across this situation
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    Do I have this problem? And if so how can I contact someone to help me solve this?
    Should I be worried?
    Best regards,
    Renato Baptista

    You don't have this issue. Even if you did it wouldn't affect the laptops anyway as it only affects SATA ports 3 and upwards.
    From the second article:
    ====
    Q: What is the issue?
    A: Under normal operation, Intel® 6 Series Express Chipsets have an issue that may impact SATA ports 2-5. Contact your system manufacturer for more information.
    ====
    Your laptop only has 2 ports - 0 and 1.
    Message was edited by: MacRS4

  • Sandy Bridge notebooks - when will they show up?

    Anybody have any ideas as to when the Sandy Bridge laptops will arrive at stores? 

    BeatBlaster wrote:
    Anybody have any ideas as to when the Sandy Bridge laptops will arrive at stores? 
    No clue.  I was expecting chipset shipments to resume by now (esp. with news that Intel would resume shipping Stepping B silicon to vendors who could guarantee nothing would ever get connected to the SATAII ports, many laptops are in this category), but Sandy Bridge still seems to be halted in the chipset recall aftermath.
    *disclaimer* I am not now, nor have I ever been, an employee of Best Buy, Geek Squad, nor of any of their affiliate, parent, or subsidiary companies.

  • Sandy bridge processor

    I have heard that the sandy bridge processor had a large flaw (I think it slowed down greatly over time).  I was wondering if anybody could tell me if this is still the case as it would be good info to have before making a purchase. Thanks!

    Hi b,
    http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/reviews/index.cfm?reviewid=3263850
    Intel discovered a hardware problem that could possibly slow down performance over time in the first Windows-based Sandy Bridge computers, and recalled those processors. Apple says that these processors are free of this defect.

  • Gx660 i5 460m to i7 9xx or sandy bridge?

    hi everyone,
    has anyone with gx660 ever upgraded their cpu yet? i  would love to do mine but have no idea which processors are compatible with? could someone help ? looking to i7 chipset at least 940xm
    thanks in advance

     Ask MSI
         http://support.msi.com/ 
     For sure not Sandy Bridge.

  • HP PAVILION dv7-5000. sandy bridge

    I just talking with Intel Technical Support Engineer and they say to me -"Marina, this design flaw with the chipset, will cause its performance (of Sata port 2-5) degrade over time, and not immediately. I would request you to contact HP for support on this. They will assist you in the correct manner, for this chipset" so what say OEM company HP?

    There is a problem with the SATA II ports on the motherboards for Sandy Bridge processors. They say that up to 5% of them may have troubles in the future but going to replace all the motherboards (laptops, desktops) anyway. If your laptop has a Sandy Bridge processor, call HP or the seller of the laptop and ask them for a replacement. It's a similar issue like with the Nvidia graphics cards some time ago..
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    *Please, help other users with the same issue by marking your solved topics as "Accept as Solution"*

  • Sandy Bridge Instability

    I have some stability issues with my Sandy Bridge build. I've had them since I built it five months ago and have been through five motherboards (long story, only one was returned for defective nature, then this one came with the same issue and I didn't have the motivation to try to correct it again). Is anyone else experiencing some instabilities with this hardware?
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    I've been monitoring the temps and I don't think it's related. These things occur even when I'm idling around 30c.
    The one other potential culprit I suppose is the power supply -- I got a new one a few months ago, but I was having instability problems before that, too, just different ones, and I don't remember any of the triggered resets on GPU activation or just random trips occurring in our old housing (we've lived here about a month).
    Any help would be appreciated. Sorry if this is a bit off-topic or weird.
    Thanks in advance.

    I have not tried different RAM but the RAM has passed stability checks without issue. As before, I'm using a new PSU now and it may be the cause of some problems I don't recall occurring on the old PSU but I am not sure. I suppose the reset button/jumper could be loose.

  • Sandy Bridge Recall reported

    Sandy Bridge reportedly is being recalled by Intel for eSata port failures that might occur over the next 3 years.  Read this by opening this link in new window.
    http://www.hardware-revolution.com/all-you-need-to-know-about-intel-sandybridge-chipset-motherboard-...
    Solved!
    Go to Solution.

    ThinkPads are not affected:- http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-76673
    ADMIN EDIT - Added redirected link to the article on our new support site
    http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-76673
    Maliha (I don't work for lenovo)
    ThinkPads:- T400[Win 7], T60[Win 7], IBM 240[Win XP]
    IdeaPad: U350
    Apple:- Macbook Air [Snow Leopard]
    Did someone help you today? Compliment them with a Kudos!
    Was your question answered today? Mark it as an Accepted Solution! 
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  • Pavilion g6-1262sa CPU upgrade v2, Sandy Bridge = Ivy Bridge?

    Hi, thanks to the Pavilion g6-1262sa maintenance and servicing manual and this magnificient forum I've recently found out that replacing my i3-2330m is possible with all sandy bridge processors up to i7-2620m.
    Theese questions may sound silly but I continued my research and I've got couple more ideas to confront with reality.
    I do realise that compatibility is not only matter of fitting the same socket but also bios installed on certain motherboard, however:
    1. Do you think it would be possible to swap Sandy Bridge (2nd gen) i3-2330m for some Ivy Bridge (3rd gen) i5 -3210m? 
    2. Is the 32nm to 22nm manufacturing technology enough difference on it's own (even if the rest of architecture is the same) to prevent this from working? 
    3. Is bios of my g6 motherboard somehow identyfying installed processor? (if it's not on "the list" it will simply not run?" or is it only technical compatibility matter?
    According to some statements which I found on some IT forums and sites (and some self researched facts):
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    Architecture difference: "The 3rd generation is called "Ivy Bridge," and is basically a copy of Sandy Bridge manufactured on a smaller scale, or die. However, Intel also focused on beefing up the integrated graphics in this generation."
    TDP: both are 35 W
    Cores: both are 2 physical (4 Virtual - thanks to hyperthreading I guess?)
    Power consumption: "the Ivy Bridge CPUs also use less power", "Ivy Bridge consumes a little less power; around 10w i think."
    Temperature: i5 -3210m goes 5*C higher than i3-2330m - shouldn't do much difference
    Looking forward to some replies, RacA
    This question was solved.
    View Solution.

    It is not a technical (socket) incompatibility since as you likely know Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge are backward compatible on most desktop motherboards. However, HP has only implemented 2d gen Intel Core processor compatibility on the HM65 Express chipset which yours has. Motherboards that will support 3rd gen CPUs use the HM77 chipset. There is no other motherboard that will fit in your chassis. 
    Your analysis above, which was pretty good, left out the chipset, which you always have to think about when assessing upgrade possibilities:
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    The HM65 does support a couple 3rd gen CPUs but none of them is on HP's list for your model. You could try one of the ones listed in the link I gave but I think there is a very small chance they will work.
    If this is "the Answer" please click "Accept as Solution" to help others find it. 

  • Restore Ivy Bridge to Sandy Bridge MSI Z68A-GD55 G3

    Hi,
    I made the mistake that upgrade my BIOS to Ivy Bridge compatible one and I lost my all OC control over my motherboard. When I tried to back to version 23.7 BIOS that in the link http://msi.com/product/mb/Z68AGD55_G3.html#/?div=BIOS , I get the following error "rom file romid is not compatible with existing bios" with MSI Forum HQ USB Flashing Tool. Please help me, how can i go back to Sandy Bridge bios?

    Quote from: Svet on 26-April-14, 18:33:22
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    Sorry but I can't say I understand what you are saying :(

  • Can I change the processor from a mac mini to a Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition Sandy Bridge-E 3.3GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 2011 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80619i73960X

    can i and how can i change it

    Julio, do you have one of the rare Minis with a socket for the CPU?
    Is it...
    Note (1): 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7 (Sandy Bridge-E) processors require a new Socket R (LGA2011) Motherboard.

  • Tapeless workflows and Sandy Bridge or other PC's: KISS or LOVE?

    Tapeless workflows and Sandy Bridge or other PC's: KISS or LOVE?
    Life used to be so simple when shooting video on a tape based camera. You shot your material, captured it for editing and stored your precious original footage on tape in a safe and dry place. Sure, it took time to capture, but the big advantage was that if you had a computer or drive failure, you would still have the original tape so everything could be recreated.
    Now with tapeless workflows we have the significant advantage of much faster import of the original footage. Connect the flash card or disk drive to the computer over USB and copy the data to a HDD on the computer, ready for editing. The data on the flash card or disk drive can then be erased, so you can reuse it for more shots. But, like Johan Cruyff has said repeatedly, every advantage has its drawback. In this case it simply means that you no longer have the original material to fall back on, in case of computer or drive failures. That is a very unpleasant and insecure feeling.
    The easy anwser to that problem is backups. Backup of the original media, backup of projects and backup of exports. This often means a bundle of externals for backup or NAS configurations. One thing is clear, it requires discipline to make regular backups and it costs time, as well as a number of disks. Four as a minimum: 1 for media, 1 for exports and at least 2 for projects. Note: This is excluding a backup drive for OS & programs.
    There are different backup strategies in use. Some say backup daily and use one disk for monday, one for tuesday, and so on.  Others say one disk for the first backup, the second for the second backup, then the first again for an incremental backup, etc. and once weekly a complete backup on a third disk. Whatever you choose, be aware that shelf live of a disk is far less than tape. There are horror stories everywhere about ball-bearings getting stuck after some time and without original tapes, you better be safe than sorry, so don't skimp on backups.
    What is the relevancy of all this? I thought this was about Sandy Bridge and other PC's.
    It is and let me try to explain.
    Card based cameras are for the most part DSLR and AVCHD type cameras, and we all know how much muscle is required to edit that in a convenient way. Adobe suggests in the system requirements to use raid configurations for HD editing and practice has shown that raid arrays do give a significant performance boost and improve responsiveness, making for a nicer editing experience. The larger the project and the longer the time-line, the more a raid array will help maintain the responsiveness.
    One thing you would not do is using a raid0 for projects, media and exports, even if you have backups. The simple reason is that the chance of disk failure multiplies by the number of disks in the raid0. Two disks double the chance of disk failure, three disks triple the chance, four disks quadruples the chance, etc.
    Remember: Disaster always strikes when it is most inconvenient.
    Imagine you have been working all day on a project, you decide to call it a day and to make your daily backup, but then the raid fails, before you made your backup. Gone is all of today's work. Then take into consideration the time and effort it takes to restore your backups to the state it was in yesterday. That does not make you happy.
    Another thing to avoid is using a software or mobo based parity raid, for the simple reason that it is slooowww and puts a burden on the CPU, that you want to use for editing, not house keeping.
    For temporary or easily recreated files, like the page-file, media cache, media cache database and preview files, it is very much advised to use a raid0. It makes everything a lot snappier and if disaster strikes, so what? These are easily recreated in a short time.
    This was a general overview of what is required with tapeless workflows. Now let's get down to what this means in terms of system design.
    Two approaches or train of thoughts
    KISS: Keep it stupidly simple or LOVE: Laughing over video editing
    The first one, the most economic one, is to use a system with 3 or 4 disks internally and 4 or more backup disks.
    A typical disk setup can look like this:
    This is a perfectly sensible approach if one does not have large or complex projects, long time-lines and is willing to take the risk of occasionally losing a whole days work, between backups. Many hobbyists and consumers fall in this category.
    The KISS approach keeps it stupidly simple. The drawback is that there is no logical way to add more disks or storage. The discipline, diligence and effort required for regular backups make it far from a laughing matter. In fact it can quickly become a bore. Add to that the fact that the disk setup is simple but not very fast, so less suited for situations where lots of clips are involved, multi-cam is a regularly recurring situation or lots of video tracks are involved.
    A number of video editors want more from their system than the occasional platonic KISS, they want to really LOVE their system, which lead to the other train of thought.
    This is more costly than the KISS approach, but you all know a fiancée or wife is more costly and dear than the occasional kiss on the cheek by an old friend.
    Let's start with a typical disk setup. It may look like this:
    Two striking differences in comparison to the KISS approach:
    1. Much easier disk organization and more disks and thus more space.
    2. It requires a hardware raid controller, causing a higher investment cost. It is like an engagement ring. You don't get LOVE for free, one of the guiding principles of the oldest trade in the world.
    These are easy statements to make, but what are the benefits or advantages, that you would fall in LOVE with such a system, and what are the drawbacks? Think back to Johan Cruyff's adage.
    The only drawback is cost. The advantages are multiple, easier organization, more speed, more storage, snappier editing, no jerkiness, lesser requirements for regular backups and - this is the major benefit - hardly a chance of losing a day's work in case of a drive failure. Keep in mind that a parity raid keeps all your data intact in case of a drive failure, so lessens the need for up-to-date backups.
    We all know, we get what we pay for: "If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. OTOH, if you pay money to monkeys, you get rich monkeys". But in this case you get what you pay for, a much better editing experience with a much easier workflow.
    Using a parity raid (be it raid 3/5/6/30/50/60) you get security, ease of mind that you are protected against losing precious media, that you need not worry about the last time you made a backup, that the editing you did today may be lost and you save valuable time editing and a lot of aggravation because of a much more responsive system.
    How does this all relate to Sandy Bridge and other PC's?
    First of all, the price difference between a Sandy Bridge / P67 platform and an i7-950+ / X58 platform is very small. Of course the new architecture is slightly more expensive than the older one, but the differences are small, almost not worth talking about.
    So what are the differences? Look below:
    The first thing to keep in mind is that the Sandy Bridge is the successor of the i7-8xx CPU and as such it is much more evolutionary than revolutionary. The CPU power has increased significantly over the i7-8xx due to new architecture and a smaller production process (32 nm), but in essence all the capabilities have remained unchanged. Same memory, same PCI-e lanes, same version, same L3 cache and no support for dedicated raid controllers.
    It is great that the processor performs much better than the older i7-8xx CPU's, almost achieving the level of the i7-9xx range of processors, but is still limited:
    The Sandy Bridge is unsuitable for anything more than a KISS system.
    Why? Because it lacks the required PCI-e lanes to accomodate more than a 16 x PCI-e nVidia card with CUDA support to enable hardware MPE acceleration and the integrated graphics are not supported by CS5.
    You may wonder if that is a bad thing. The plain and simple anser is NO. It is a great processor, it delivers great value for money, is a solid performer, but it has its limitations. Intel had a reason to position this CPU as a mid-level CPU, because that is what it is, a mid-level performer in comparison to what is to come.
    The term mid-level performer may seem strange when compared to the old generation of i7-9xx CPU's, because they perform almost equally well, but keep in mind that there is a generation difference between them.
    So what about the i7-9xx and X58 platform?
    It still is going strong. About the same performance as a Sandy Bridge, with only the much more expensive hexa-cores clearly in the lead, both performance and price wise. The quad cores deliver about the same value for money.  The main difference however is the platform that allows a dedicated raid controller to be installed, thus making it the platform of choice for those who want to go from a passing KISS to true LOVE.
    And what lies ahead?
    Sandy Bridge E on the Waimea platform (X68). Now that is revolutionary. More than double almost everything a processor can offer: double the cores, double the PCI-e lanes, triple the memory, more than double the L3 cache, increase the PCI-e support from 2.0 to 3.0, etc...
    This is why Intel calls this a high-end CPU / platform.
    So what now?
    If you prefer a KISS approach, choose either a Sandy Bridge/P67 or an i7-950+/X58 platform.
    If you wonder whether in the future you may need multi-cam more frequently, edit more complex projects and longer timelines or even progress to RED, look at KISS/LOVE solutions, meaning the i7-950+/X58.
    If you can't have downtime, time pressure is high, delivery dates to clients are critical or you edit highly complex projects, lots of multi-cam situations or lengthy time-lines, choose a LOVE solution, an i7-950+/X58 platform.
    If you have the time to wait till Q4/2011, Sandy Bridge E/Waimea looks to be worth the wait.
    Hope this gives you some more insight into recent and future developments and helps you make wise investment decisions.

    I'm upgrading from an AMD 3800+, cutting with Vegas 7 Pro. Usually shoot DSLR or HDV, sometimes P2, EX or RED. I have ridiculously cheap access to Macs, FCP/FCS, all kinds of software.
    I've been agonizing over this for the last month, was originally hoping the UD7 mobo was the solution, read the read about the NF200/PCIe issue a few days ago, http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/non-linear-editing-pc/489424-i7-980x-now-wait-sandybridge-2.ht ml- and still decided to go for a 2600k. 
    My preference is to treat my video footage the same way as my digital imagery: I make (at least) duplicate back ups of everything before reformatting the cards, never delete the back ups, and only worry about the day-to-day stuff at night. Unless I'm rendering or involved in other long processes, in which case I'll back up the work in process the next day. If I am under a really really tight deadline I might back up as I go.
    Yes, a RAID might make it easier, but I'm paranoid enough to prefer a slower, safer backup. You can always duplicate, and usually improve upon, a days work, but you can never get back original footage you lost. I have only ever had one hard drive die on me (a few enclosures crapped out, though)- it took a couple of (mostly unattended) hours to rectify. As a matter of act, I've had far more loss/damage from tapes than from hard drives.
    I ordered the UD7, 2 F4s and 4 F3Rs, understanding I will probably want to upgrade to SBE when it comes out, or maybe next year. The 2600k/mobo/RAM will likely hold its value better than a 950/X58, likely because of the marketplace as much as merit.
    The UD7 / RAID card issue is in it's early days, there may be a solution/mitigation. Probably not. But if I really really need a RAID card, then I probably really really need a 980, NAS, etc etc.
    But Harm still rocks!

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