Defective Sandy Bridge Chipset - Update 1

[Mike87]

I went ahead with my order, if PCS are claiming that my computer wont be affected if i use 1 of the SATA ports as i am never going to upgrade my HDD or optical drive in the rig i have chosen then i dont see what the problem is and will continue with my order.

though a discount for these "faulty" boards would be nice

Yea i went ahead with mine. Im never going to have more optical drives or HDD and i will only maybe install a SSD later, so im happy.

Went with the PCI SATA card too

 

[Matt]

Glad i decided to wait, it would have been typical of my luck had i gone ahead and ordered.

 

[silkysean]

I went ahead with my order, if PCS are claiming that my computer wont be affected if i use 1 of the SATA ports as i am never going to upgrade my HDD or optical drive in the rig i have chosen then i dont see what the problem is and will continue with my order.

though a discount for these "faulty" boards would be nice

I've gone ahead with mine too on the same basis. But I wouldn't mind the Sata PCI card thrown in the welcome pack for free, in case I decide to use it in the future and lose a slot. Is this possible? Or yeah, a discount/partial refund would be appreciated.

 

[Gazza49er]

So can they say 100% that its only those certain ports and will not cause any other problems with any other part of the mobo in the future?

Im really not sure what to do as i ordered my pc on sunday 30th, if it is just the mentioned ports then i wouldnt be affected but im worried it might be more than this down the line.

 

[Dudey]

So can they say 100% that its only those certain ports and will not cause any other problems with any other part of the mobo in the future?

Im really not sure what to do as i ordered my pc on sunday 30th, if it is just the mentioned ports then i wouldnt be affected but im worried it might be more than this down the line.

I agree with you mate. However I would imagine the only thing that is going to be changed by intel on the new boards is the faulty ports so we should be covered if more problems arise.

 

[Hasta]

I'm going to play the waiting game. I was going to order my spec this week but I'm glad I found out to be honest.

You never know. Two years down the line and with prices hopefully falling, I might end up buying a SSD so I will need them ports. I wait two months and other things will be released or I wait three years and forget I have a faulty board.

 

[Rakk]

So can they say 100% that its only those certain ports and will not cause any other problems with any other part of the mobo in the future?

No, cos no-one can ever say there won't be further problems down the line for anything - no-one can see into the future
However hopefully there should be no further issues at all.

 

[Dudey]

But what if we do have other problems with the board in the future. Does this mean will we not be covered?

 

[Gorman]

We can only really discuss this issue that has been outlined by Intel and recognised by them, if something else comes to light down the road that will be a completely seperate issue.

These things are very, very rare on this scale.

 

[quaker_31]

Very disappointed,

I decided to cancel my order - I am losing a PCI slot and having overall ports go from 6 to 4. I asked them to lower the motherboard price to reflect its failings. They said no.

Its a shame as it is not the company's fault, cannot believe Intel brought out a stunning Chip and failed in such a minor department. Some people are going to be fired.

 

[Tom DWC]

While the disruption short term is a bit of a nightmare for everybody, at least the problem has been caught early and is now being rectified. If it had gone undetected there would have been far more problems further down the line. To Intel's credit, they aren't ducking the bullet.

Gotta look at the positives.

 

[Dudey]

Think I'm gonna end up playing the waiting game and hold my order.


As Tom has said think of the positives, at least my PS3 will be happy, she doesn't have to go into hibernation just yet.

 

[Gazza49er]

Yeah credit to them for owning up at least.

I think im gunna cancel my order (as i paid by credit card no point putting on hold as i still gotta pay) and wait for the new mobo's but i would like to say its in no way a reflection on PCS and i will be back to reorder when the new mobo's are ready.

 

[MayheM_MakeR]

just to clarify i went with the 3rd option,

"We will dispatch your order to you at your request. Your computer will still have full warranty cover but you will forfeit the right to have the motherboard replaced because of this issue. Any other problems will of course be covered under warranty."

since my build is of a SLI setup i dont think an extra pci slot would be available, nevertheless i am fairly confident that as long as i use the non faulty SATA ports, i shouldnt have a problem reguarding to this matter

i would of indeed waited, if the wait time was of a smaller scale, waiting till the start of april for the new boards and then waiting for your order to be built alongside everyone else who have canceled their order, i wouldnt be supprised to recieve the build in the month of may and this is just too much of a wait as i am needing a pc asap.

 

[A Fine Frenzy]

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/364930/asus-tells-pc-makers-to-stop-shipping-sandy-bridge-pcs

 

[Ansab001]

end of the day it is a personal chocie remember it could be these boards never have a fault at all. I recommend for people with more than 2 hard drvies if they can better wait. If you realy want your pc do two things first upgrade to a mother board with more pcie slots and get the extra slot addition. This covers you for future proofing the board. AND!!! you have the peace of mind that problem will never effect you. ALSO REMEBER THE REASON INTEL are recalling because there fault factor should be 0.001% Because its 15%. It is very high for them from a buisness point of view and could cost them more in the long run. hence the recall. Thier is a bit of too mcu for a panic..Remeber 8/10 baords will be fine. Also PCS have gone beyond the extra mile to keep you covered. Sorry but if that isn't world class customer service i dont know what is...

 

[Gazza49er]

Just another quick question, if i put my order on hold will the price be held at the price i paid originally or will there be differences when the new mobo's become available as im guessing the price of other parts will change in the 3 months its on hold?

 

[Steve78]

I have just responded to the e-mail asking for my order to be put on hold. Who else knows what other undiscovered/unannounced issues may crop up? It's extremely unfortunate, especially as I am desperate for my new PC as my old tower died in November, but I just wouldn't be happy accepting the new machine knowing it's got a ticking time-bomb inside it.

I just hope the supply will arrive quicker than the anticipated March/April estimates! I know it's certainly not PC Specialists fault, but these lead times are bordering on the ridiculous.

 

[Hasta]

i would of indeed waited, if the wait time was of a smaller scale, waiting till the start of april for the new boards and then waiting for your order to be built alongside everyone else who have canceled their order, i wouldnt be supprised to recieve the build in the month of may and this is just too much of a wait as i am needing a pc asap.

I agree, the wait time is horrendous.

I've been without a computer since last October and there were job redundancies around Christmas/early January where I work so I had to hold fire with my money.

I heard we should be seeing new motherboards around March. I'm hoping it will be mid March as I had hoped to be playing TW:SG2 on release but we will see. I completely forgot about the backlog

I know if I order a new system now then I'll regret it when SB is in full swing.

What will happen to the dodgy motherboards? I'm just curious as I don't want to wait now and come April order a new system and have one installed in that without me knowing! (not to say that you would)

 

[MayheM_MakeR]

I have just responded to the e-mail asking for my order to be put on hold. Who else knows what other undiscovered/unannounced issues may crop up? It's extremely unfortunate, especially as I am desperate for my new PC as my old tower died in November, but I just wouldn't be happy accepting the new machine knowing it's got a ticking time-bomb inside it.

I just hope the supply will arrive quicker than the anticipated March/April estimates! I know it's certainly not PC Specialists fault, but these lead times are bordering on the ridiculous.

i dont think the situation is as extereme as a ticking time bomb lol, since the only fault these motherboards have are the 3gb/s sata ports, and from my understanding if one uses the 6gb/s ports then there are no issues, its just if i wish to upgrade my system with a new hdd or optical drive, then indeed there is the possiblity of one of the 3gb/s ports failing and not reading my hdd or dvd drive