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intel in denial,
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Intel has more chip-set woes
By Christine McGeever, Computerworld
INTEL WILL BE about two months late shipping server and high-end workstation components to its customers due to problems that the company is experiencing with the memory hubs used with its 820 and 840 chip sets.
The memory hubs generate errors when either chip set is used with SDRAM (synchronous DRAM), which utilizes ECC (error-correcting code) circuitry.
Intel officials said the memory hub circuitry must be redesigned to correct the problem. Then the new components must be manufactured and shipped to hardware vendors, which will test them before shipping them out with new products. The whole process will take about two months, according to Intel chip-set marketing director Bob Gregory.
The hubs are required for 820 or 840 CPU designs that integrate ECC SDRAM rather than the chip set's native memory -- high-priced, high-speed memory from Rambus, in Mountain View, Calif.
"In the server space, ECC SDRAM is the [design] requirement," said Gregory. Because they do not have an alternative to ECC SDRAM, Intel customers that are building servers based on the new chips will have to wait for Intel to ship the replacement hubs. Gregory declined to name specific companies that might have products affected
by the delay.
Intel spokesperson Diana Wilson of the company's Folsom, Calif.-based facility said a page with a list of information regarding the memory-hub problem is available on the intel.com. | company's Web site.
The current problems come only months after a problem with the chip sets delayed customer ship dates for desktop
computers. |
