Intel doesn't wait for fixed 6 Series chips, resumes some shipments

TechConnect has a interesting 6-Series news post today claiming that Intel is resuming chipset sales, but with a condition.

According to Intel, it will only deliver bugged chips to PC makers who will build systems that would not be affected by the issue. This likely means we'll be seeing Sandy Bridge laptops back on sale soon as they can use the two SATA 6.0 Gbps ports unaffected by the bug. Of course, some desktops may qualify for shipping too, if they only have an optical drive and a hard/solid state drive, but their maker will have to tell customers the free SATA 3.0 connectors available are troublesome.

So what does this mean? Well, basically it means that "everyone" blew things way out of proportion in an attempt to calm angry consumers. (darn you consumers)  It also means that level headed mfgs like Foxconn were smart to stay quiet while other mobo makers like Gigabyte and MSI were left scrambling to make a TON of extra noise.

From a business standpoint it is proper for Intel to issue the recall in an attempt to make things right.  Gigabyte, MSI and others were also correct in establishing RMA processes to replace products affected by the faulty chip.  However when you look at the timeline the warranty on most motherboards is 1 to 2 years and fault often occurs over time and may not be seen for 3 years.  Sounds like business as usual, especially since the way around the whole issue is to avoid using the "slower" SATA2 port(s) or just ride it out.

Overall this hurts Intel more than anyone but with Ivy Bridge just around the corner their mistake will be short lived.

Related Web URL: http://www.tcmagazine.com/tcm/news/hardware/34888/...