14 DAY TRIAL // Chip manufacturer Intel should enjoy a smooth ride, since rival AMD is struggling with the Phenom TLB errata. Things are, however, more complicated, and Intel is beginning to feel a little of AMD's disappointment.
Intel's Yorkfield 45-nanometer quad-core CPU line has been slated for official unveiling on January 20, but the chip manufacturer may be forced to push back the launch date because of Yorkfields having some compatibility issues with the supporting motherboards.
According to a recent report, the 45-nanometer Q9550, Q9450, and Q9300 processors (the Yorkfield non-Extreme line), are having difficulties with the motherboards designed to support them. Intel representatives deny any delay: "The 45nm Core 2 Quad launch is planned for Q1'08, and we are still on track for that."
Previous rumors said that Intel plans to re-schedule the official launch date because AMD's quad-core Phenom and Barcelona processors did not make it to the market. Some other rumors claim that Intel is forced to delay the whole 45-nanometer processor line, including the X48 chipset, because of motherboard manufacturers' pressure.
However, there seems to be a more practical reason for delaying the Yorkfields. Acording to reports from sources at Taiwanese motherboard manufacturers, some Yorkfield - ready motherboards are facing severe problems with front-side bus (FSB). The problematic motherboards are the mass-market four-layer boards, built with the P35 chipset, that are crippled by stability issues and feature out-of-parameters "noise" signals.
On the other side, the six-layer boards built around the X38 chipset are not affected by any FSB issue, but they only work with Intel's Extreme QX9650 processors. It appears that Harpertown and dual-core Wolfdale boards are error-free.
It may seem a little odd for Intel to delay the 20 January launch because of the alleged incompatibility with some specific motherboards. In fact, Intel is not under the pressure of any competitor on the CPU market, so making sure that the products are fully-functional is common-sense. The fix for the mentioned motherboards will come up in one or two months.