14 DAY TRIAL // Dell has posted a response regarding the recent SATA bug identified in Intel's 6-series chipsets, code-named Cougar Point, the company planning to support all of the users who purchased products affected by this design error under its warranty and service terms.
This means that Dell will provide motherboard replacements, that correct the design issue, at no extra costs for its customers.
The replacements will be carried out at the customers' location and convenience via authorized Dell service providers, or through the applicable return policy available in that region.
For now, the company has removed the affected products from its website.
“Dell and Intel are in communication regarding the design issue in the recently released Intel 6 Series support chip set, code-name Cougar Point.
“This affects four currently-available Dell products, the XPS 8300, the Vostro 460, the Alienware M17x R3 and the Alienware Aurora R3 as well as several other planned products including XPS 17 with 3D,” writes Lionel Menchaca, chief blogger at Dell in one of its posts.
Intel has informed customers and partners alike of the bug present in the recent version of the Cougar Point chipset on January 31, Asus, Gigabyte, MSI and other board manufacturers and retailers quickly announcing their replacement programs.
As we have previously reported, the bug affects the four 3Gbps SATA ports that are run by Intel's 6-series PCH.
According to Intel, at the heart of the issue stands a single transistor in the 3Gbps PLL clocking tree.
The affected transistor is 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 fabrication of a new version of the chipset, which will carry the B3 stepping and is expected to become available in April.
An article detailing how to see if your Sandy Bridge motherboard is affected by the issue is available here.