14 DAY TRIAL // Asus has recently announced that the company plans to start shipping new revised versions of its Sandy Bridge-powered notebooks later this week, immediately after the revised chipset design is released by Intel.
The first Asus laptops to get the new revision of the Cougar Point PCH are the G73SW, N53SV and N53SN models, followed by the N43SL, N43SN and N73SV notebooks.
Customers who plan to buy new Asus mobile systems, with Sandy Bridge processors, should look for the “New Revision Certified Design” sticker which is placed on the product box label, right under the Intel logo.
In addition, a similar sticker is present on the palm-rest, in the bottom right corner of the device (under the features and specifications sticker).
On January 31, Intel announced the detection of a design error in the new Sandy Bridge-based 6-series support chip, also known as Cougar Point.
The bug made its way into almost all Sandy Bridge products shipped until then and could lead, in time, to a slower performing system as it affected the speed of the four SATA II 3Gbps ports built into the chipset.
At the heart of the problem is one of the transistors in the 3Gbps PLL clocking tree that was provided with too high of a voltage, resulting a leakage current which, over time, can cause the failure of the 3Gbps ports.
To correct this problem, Intel has started the fabrication of a new revision of the Cougar Point chipset, identified with the B3 stepping.
Right after the problem was identified, Asus has started a replacement and refund program for all of its Sandy Bridge products, including laptops.
Asus users who think they are affected by this issues can follow this link and register their product if they want to be eligible for a replacement or refund.
Earlier today, Asus has also announced that it will start shipping B3 revision motherboards by the end of the week.
