14 DAY TRIAL // MSI UK has finally responded to the Intel-identified Sandy Bridge chipset design error and has advised its customers on the steps they need to take in order to exchange the motherboards bought while also urging all those affected to register the products before 30th of April 2011.
Although the announcement comes more than a month late, it is good to see that MSI's UK customers finally know what they have to do in order to exchange their faulty motherboards.
As MSI states, the design error has affected no less than 10 board models, six based on the P67 chipset and four on the H67 PCH, but, fortunately, no affected notebook models have been sold in the UK.
MSI UK will offer end users a choice of two product exchange methods and both start with registering the product on a special MSI page available here.
The standard replacement program is open to any customer wishing to exchange his, or hers, existing MSI Sandy Bridge mainboard for a B3 version of the same model and the user has to ship the board via City-Link before receiving the new product.
In comparison, the advanced method requires a verified PayPal account and the users will receive a payment request invoice for the value of the replacement product once stock is available.
The new board will be dispatched right after MSI has received the payment and City-Link will collect the original product at the same time as the delivery is made.
Intel has informed customers and partners alike of the bug present in the Cougar Point chipset on January 31.
As we previously reported, the bug affects the four 3Gbps SATA ports that are run by Intel's 6-series PCH and is caused by a single transistor in the 3Gbps PLL clocking tree.
The affected transistor is provided with too high a voltage, resulting a leakage current which, over time, can cause decreased performance and, eventually, the failure of the 3Gbps ports.