Intel confirms problem with
chip sets
By Ken Popovich, PC Week Online
February 17, 2000 7:07 PM ET
Intel Corp. has disclosed a problem involving its 820
and 840 chip sets that has spurred the company to
scrap plans for three motherboards it had on its server
road map.
But while an Intel representative stressed that the
problem would likely affect only a few users, some
analysts said the trouble may indicate a flaw in a
crucial component used to configure the boards with
SDRAM.
The trouble arose when Intel's 820 and 840 chip sets,
which were designed to take advantage of speedier
Rambus memory, RDRAM, were configured to work
with SDRAM.
According to Intel, memory errors may result from the
combined use of the memory-repeater hub (known as
MRH-S), which is used to translate native RDRAM
support to SDRAM, and ECC (error correction coding).
Intel said it believes few customers will be affected
since most 820 and 840 chip set customers using
ECC, commonly in workstation and servers, are likely
to have gone with Rambus memory for greater
performance.
However, customers seeking a lower-cost server or
workstation solution may have elected to go with
less-expensive SDRAM over RDRAM in order to get the
highest amount of memory for their money.
"We are informing vendors that certain server platforms
using the memory repeater hub as well as the error
correction coding have been experiencing memory
issues or errors," said Dan Francisco, an Intel
spokesman.
How big a problem?
If the problem is actually tied to just the
memory-translation hub, it could spell big trouble for
Intel, said Mike Feibus, principal analyst at Mercury
Research in Scottsdale, Ariz.
"We're predicting that more than half of the 840 chip
sets that will ship this quarter will be configured with
SDRAM," Feibus said. "So if there's trouble with the
memory translator, that could pose major problems for
Intel."
A spokesman for Dell Computer Corp. said the
company has avoided packaging SDRAM with 820 and
840 chip sets after it became aware of the problem a
couple of weeks ago.
A representative at Compaq Computer Corp., which
sells workstations with SDRAM, said the company has
been made aware of the problem and is working with
Intel to resolve it.
Officials at Hewlett-Packard Co., which also sells
systems packaging SDRAM with the 820 and 840 chip
sets, were not immediately available for comment.
Industry analyst Kevin Knox said that, while he was
unaware of the problem, he's not surprised.
"Anytime you put a translator in there [i.e., the memory
translator hub], you're asking for trouble," he said.
"The 820 and 840 chip sets were not designed for
SDRAM," Knox said. "So trying to make them work
with SDRAM posed an obvious risk of introducing
errors."
Pruning the trees
The problems involving the memory translator and error
correction coding came to light after Intel informed
vendors that it was scrapping plans for three
motherboards targeted for use in servers.
The motherboards, known by the code names Pine,
Hemlock and Willow, were developed based on the 820
and 840 chip set designs. Intel had planned to design
the boards to accommodate dual processors configured
with SDRAM.
"We are working to resolve the issue and expect to fix it
in the next 'stepping' of the parts," Francisco said.
The 820 chip set's introduction was initially delayed last
fall due to a platform integration issue involving
Rambus. The problem was addressed by altering the
motherboard from its original three-slot RIMM
configuration to a two-slot RIMM configuration.
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