Sandy Bridge mobo defect email from Newegg

[jfreund]

Showed up in my inbox this AM:

"Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you. Newegg has recently become aware of a design issue that is affecting recent models of Intel Sandy Bridge platform motherboards. We are working with Intel to identify the exact nature of this problem.

As always, Newegg remains 100% committed to our customers' total satisfaction. In keeping with our commitment to our customers, we are extending the return period for your motherboard by 90 days or until replacements become available from the manufacturer, whichever is greater. Intel expects to have a new revision of the P67 & H67 chipsets out around April, at which point first-run motherboards with this issue will need to be physically replaced in affected systems.

From a technical standpoint, the design issue can be bypassed fairly simply by not using the Serial ATA (SATA) ports that are affected. Your motherboard’s manual should identify your SATA ports by number, and at a minimum you should see ports 0-5 (6 ports in total) listed. Ports 0 and 1 are Sata Rev. III (6Gbps), and do not appear to be affected by this problem. Ports 2-5 are SATA Rev. II (3Gbps) and should not be used. For a thorough explanation of this hardware work-around, please refer to our video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJcE2alQPvY

If you choose to use the hardware work-around option, there is no need to contact us at this time. We have your information on record and will email you as soon as the replacements become available. If you would like to discuss this with our tech community or read up on the latest updates, please visit our EggXpert forum:
http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/682006.aspx

If none of the above options are suitable to your needs and you wish to return the board at this time for a full refund, please email us at [email protected] and include your sales order number so we can help you out with your return.

If you have any concerns, please contact Newegg Customer Service for further information and assistance.

Thank you for your support!"

Sincerely,


Your Newegg.com Customer Service Team

 

[rUmX]

Yeah I got it too.

 

[radeon962]

Gotta love NewEgg's customer service.

You pick the option that you want to pursue.

Wonder if Intel is picking up the tab?

 

[clok1966]

So if i read this right, we can just use our already installed boards untill NEWEGG lets us know via email new boards or replacement boards are in and will outline the RMA process for us then? Just sit and wait for an email from them and get it replaced then, or pull it out box it up and RMA now?

 

[pa-fun]

So if i read this right, we can just use our already installed boards untill NEWEGG lets us know via email new boards or replacement boards are in and will outline the RMA process for us then? Just sit and wait for an email from them and get it replaced then, or pull it out box it up and RMA now?

I'm sure that Intel is paying the bills on at least some of this process.

Yes indeed you can play with your board (with full warranty) and replace it in a couple of months or ship it back now. Since you likely also have a CPU and a bunch of other parts, ship it back now may not make much sense. To use your (expensive) pile of parts, you still need a motherboard. If you buy another (older) one now, you'll not be happy in a couple of months when the replacements are out.

There is a risk your board may die. Boards die for a lot of reasons, so you had a more limited risk there anyway. If Intel is right, it's still a pretty small risk.

You will have to pull the board and swap in the new one. In exchange for that work - you *might* get to keep the old one. I'd say that is real good pay for less than an hour's work.

Why might you get to keep it? Intel sells you a CPU to go with it. Not much of a deal for the motherboard guy, but a fine deal for Intel. They are the ones with the big check book on this ....

If you do send the board back, it's scrap. Forget about repairing and reselling a many months old board. Not going to happen. Repair and retest is expensive. Would you buy one? Unlikely for any reasonable price. No profit in selling them for an un-reasonable price.