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Intel Recalls New Chipset-Based Motherboards

VD writes "Intel Corp., world's largest chip maker, has made a serious mistake, which led the chip giant to recall its recently launched 925 and 915 chipset based motherboards. Intel reported the problem to be with the ICH6 and requested that motherboard makers recall their motherboards from the channel. The chip maker has agreed to pay compensation to motherboard makers for the losses." There's also a Reuters story as well.

14 of 165 comments (clear)

  1. Ouch! by TheGavster · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Well, Rueter's made it sound like no big deal, but I think its a bit of a confidence killer. Looks how issues with a small subset of a product seem to taint it for life: overheating/crushable AMDs, P4s need super-expensive RAM, GeFroceFXs require a leafblower, etc. Release bugs seem to follow computer parts in spirit well after the flaw is corrected.

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    1. Re:Ouch! by JAFSlashdotter · · Score: 5, Insightful

      But a quick, well handled recall is 1000% better than deny, deny, deny, deny... oh? oh yeah! we do have a problem!

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  2. Foolish AMD quote by bender647 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Sources close to Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) stated that AMD will most likely benefit from this recall as it will gain trust from more consumers.

    In general, a mistake by one competitor does not give me more trust in another. Less trust in the former, yes.

    1. Re:Foolish AMD quote by shird · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well to be honest I put more trust in Intel after this incident. Afterall, they were quick to admit their mistake, and are prepared to compensate the manufacturers for any loss.

      Id have a lot less trust if they tried to deny it for ages, until theyre eventually forced to admit the mistake and then not want to compensate people for their losses.

      Of course, with the problem being that the motherboards prevent booting, I suspect its not something they could hide for long - so they really didnt have much choice.

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  3. Its clear that... by ankit · · Score: 5, Funny

    This time A times B times C equaled more than the cost of a recall.

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  4. Intel rushed.... by Yenhsrav_Keviv · · Score: 4, Interesting

    it seems like everytime AMD puts pressure on Intel, Intel rushes and screws up in some way, like this. The P3 1.13ghz comes to mind.

  5. Re:Imagine if the mistake was yours by kasperd · · Score: 4, Informative

    Right now, I wouldn't want to be in the pants of the engineer responsible for the gaffe...

    It is not necesarilly an engineer who is responsible for the mistake. It is not a design flaw, it is a flaw in the manufacturing process. Guess this could possibly have been caused by broken equipment, possibly careless handling.

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  6. Tom's Hardware link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    A little more info here:Intel Grantsdale Recall

  7. hardware vs software.. by sucati · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's ironic in that if Intel was a software (only) company, this probably wouldn't make a headline. If they were a software company, the customer would probably end up paying for the fix. You have to wonder what it would be like if software was developed and tested with the same rigor as hardware. Instead, software is often pushed out the door, chock full of bugs, and it's the customer who ultimately pays the price. Of course I'm generalizing, I understand there's plenty of quality software out there, but much more poor quality software. The obvious explanation is that software is of lesser quality because it can be; it can be patched, and with great efficiency these days via auto updates, whereas hardware doesn't afford the same benefit.

  8. NOT a big deal by Egekrusher2K · · Score: 5, Informative

    For one thing, this news is 2 days old now. Thanks for staying current. :rolleyes: For another, this is not a design flaw, it was a manufacturing flaw- a thin film substrate wasn't completely removed from the chipset before the chips were sent out to the mobo manufacturers, and they believe that the "recall" will only affect, at most, 1000 motherboards. Lastly, there are no video cards available on the market that can be used on these motherboards, as they can use ONLY PCI Express video cards, not AGP. Therefore, virtually noone can even use the boards yet. Early adopters? I doubt if there are any yet. Oh yeah, one last thing- I'd like to know what manufacturer doesn't use chipset based motherboards???? The poster of this article sounds like he was just trying to raise a ruckus, without even being informed about the issue.

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  9. Re:Intentions? by Timesprout · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We all know that Intel puts all their equipment through a strong Quality Assurance check. They run tests on computer equipment that others in manufacturing envy.

    The first line you wrote pretty much negates all the drivel that follows it. You obviously have absolutely no idea how a manufacturing process works.

    Intel needs to restructure their company.

    Yes because they have been such a consistently pathetic failure over the last 10- 15 years.

    all innovation in the CPU industry is put on hold until the market demands updates in speeds

    The market constantly demands increases in speed as enterprise applications become more sophisticated and complex.

    before we find an accounting error trying to sustain a broken company

    One of the dumbest comments I have ever seen on /. Intel have been in a dream position for the last 20 years to make shedloads of money. They have consistently produced high quality minor engineering miracles used by 100's of millions of people daily. You try design and build a CPU rather than spout mindless, unsubstantiated drivel.

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  10. Re:ICH6? by builderbob_nz · · Score: 5, Informative

    ICH6 = Intel I/o Controller Hub 6. Basically it is the south bridge for Intel's new chipset.

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  11. required actions don't demonstrate trustworthiness by sacrilicious · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Well to be honest I put more trust in Intel after this incident. Afterall, they were quick to admit their mistake, and are prepared to compensate the manufacturers for any loss.

    Of course, with the problem being that the motherboards prevent booting, I suspect its not something they could hide for long - so they really didnt have much choice.

    I find the second point above weightier than the first. Intel was going to be found out about this rather quickly, so the best thing they could do for their own PR and their own bottom line was to neutralize this asap. IMO this doesn't really warrant "trust". They can't be counted on to avoid such huge mistakes to start with, nor is this evidence that they place the needs of partners or consumers above their own. Trust is a warm and fuzzy concept that I'm uncomfortable bestowing in response to coldly calculated bottom-line-driven strategic reactions to PR disasters.

    What this demonstrates is soundness of strategy given that they find themselves in this pickle (of their own making) to start with. They've avoided the even bigger mistake of staying silent, and the redress they're offering to mobo manufacturers is likely to minimize the damage to their relationships with these parties.

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  12. Re:What's actually wrong with ICH6? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    A small piece of foil which was supposed to have been removed during manufacturing may not actually have been removed. If it has not been removed, it will cause a short which will drain the CMOS battery, which will mess up BIOS configuration and halt the Real Time Clock.