14 DAY TRIAL // Asus, one of the most well known motherboard and notebook manufacturers, has recently announced that the company plans to start shipping new revised versions of its Sandy Bridge-powered desktops later this week, immediately after the revised chipset design is released by Intel.
The first Asus desktops to get the new revision of the Cougar Point PCH are the CG8250, CG8350 and CM6650 models, which are all based on Intel H67 motherboards.
Customers who plan to buy new Asus systems, with Sandy Bridge processors, should look for the “New Revision Certified Design” sticker which is placed on the box of the product, as shown in the pictures enclosed below.
In addition, a similar sticker is present on the front of the case, on one of the 5.25-inch drive bays.
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 desktops.
Users who think they are affected by this issue should contact their local Asus service hotline to provide them with additional details regarding the replacement procedure (the phone numbers available here).
