Feb 2, 2011 21:01 GMT  ·  By
MSI's official response regarding Intel's Sandy Bridge chipset design error - MSI P67 Big Bang Marshal motherboard pictured
   MSI's official response regarding Intel's Sandy Bridge chipset design error - MSI P67 Big Bang Marshal motherboard pictured

Following the SATA port bug that has affected all of Intel's Sandy Bridge motherboard chipsets, MSI has released a statement regarding its RMA policy as well as a workaround that should provide a temporary solution for its customers until the new revision of the Cougar Point chip logic is available in large enough quantities for the company to replace the affected motherboards.

The small how-to guide is available on MSI's website and shows users how to enable the two SATA ports powered by the Marvell SE9128 chip.

This way, users won't have to rely on the P67/H67 integrated SATA controller which is affected by the performance drop issue.

The solution is pretty simple and asks for only four steps to be undertaken, pictures being provided for every one of these steps.

In addition, MSI has also detailed the way the company is going to deal with the affected products.

Users who had purchased a 6-series motherboard or laptop will be entitled to swap their goods with a new MSI product based on the B3 stepping of the Intel 6 series, which solves the current SATA2 port issues, or return the product to the point of purchase for getting their money back.

If the user decides that it has to swap the product, MSI will provide them with a similar or better specs motherboard or laptop once these become available in April.

As we previously reported, the cause of the bug is in one of the transistors in the 3Gbps PLL clocking tree which was provided with a too high voltage when the PCH was designed.

This resulted in a higher than expected leakage current that can increase over time, leading to the failure of the four 3Gbps ports found inside the P67/H67 chipsets.

Fortunately, the problem doesn't affect the two SATA 6Gbps ports available, as these are controlled by a different PLL, or the ports provided by third party controllers (like the Marvell SE9128 chip).