Talk about perfect timing! Intel’s long awaited new flagship desktop CPU, the Core i7 990x, just went on sale at newegg in the USA. Remarkably the first G1.Assassin motherboards ship from Taiwan this very week, while Kingston just provided a sneak peak at their new HyperX Black memory in a short youtube video. Needless to say, the system being used includes the G1.Assassin together with the Core i7 990x CPU.

Find out more about the G1-Killer series of gaming motherboards from the official GIGABYTE G1-Killer microsite.

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The numbering of SATA ports on a motherboard can be confusing, but once it has been explained to you it makes perfect sense. The 1st SATA port on a P67 chipset mobo is called SATA3_0 where SATA3 refers to Serial ATA 3.0 that runs at 6Gbps. If it were to read SATA2 then it refers to Serial ATA 2.0 that runs at 3Gbps. The number following the underscore (_) refers the SATA port number. Here is a typical SATA port layout as seen on the GIGABYTE P67A-UD3P:

In the picture above the white ports are the two SATA3 ports (SATA3_0 and SATA3_1) that are not affected by Intel’s recent announcement. The black ports (SATA2_2 through SATA2_5) carry the risk of performance degradation over time.

The following chart shows which 6 series mobo SATA ports are risk free. There is a key below the chart that explains some of the abbreviations.

Key:

ESATA: External SATA port

GSATA: Additional SATA3 ports (GIGABYTE SATA ports)

09 Feb Update: The chart has been updated to include the GA-P67A-UD3R, as well as adding an additional SATA2 port to the GA_P65A-UD3 row.

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SuperPi is one of those old school benchmarks which will just never go away because no matter what new generation of CPUs and boards come out, it provides a very good indication of platform efficiency when it comes to system and memory tuning. This benchmarks takes up a huge amount of time and effort which is what Mad222 has put in, first from his tireless benching and tweaking and also from his search for the golden CPU.

Today marks the day of one of those amazing achievements which are rarely seen and can’t come often enough. First sub-10minute AMD 32M SuperPi went down overnight in Hong Kong at an astonishing 6991.7Mhz frequency using GIGABYTE’s flagship 890FXA-UD7 motherboard and an AMD Phenom II X4 965 CPU.

This truly belongs in SuperPi Hall of Fame. Congratulations and keep pushing it as the famous Dane would say!

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The news of the SATA 2.0 issues with Intel 6 series chipsets has sparked a lot of uncertainty about how this will affect those of us who upgraded to the new Sandy Bridge architecture. Essentially, if you’re using 1 or 2 SATA devices then this chipset issue need not affect you at all because you can connect your devices to the 2 white SATA 3.0 ports. However, if you’re using 3 or more SATA devices, you may want to prioritise your more important devices on the white SATA 3.0 ports (e.g. hard drive with your operating system on it) and the less important devices on the Intel PCH SATA 2.0 ports (e.g. a DVD ROM).

To help our customers optimise SATA performance on their 6 series mobos, GIGABYTE has created an easy to use utility called the GIGABYTE 6 Series SATA Check that tells you if the SATA ports that you are using are in fact the affected Intel PCH SATA 2.0 ports. It also recommends that you change your SATA devices to the white SATA 3.0 ports. The utility is a simple program that will work on any 6 series chipset based mobo, and has 3 possible scenarios that offer advice for users to configure their SATA devices. To operate, simply copy this utility to your P67/H67 system’s Windows desktop and unzip, then double click the “67sfck.exe” file.

The 1st scenario is where there are no devices connected to the affected Intel PCH SATA 2.0 ports, and the utility will let you know that your SATA configuration is OK.

The 2nd scenario is where your devices are all connected to the affected Intel PCH SATA 2.0 ports, and the utility will advise you to (Please) move 1 or 2 devices from Intel PCH SATA 2.0 ports to the free SATA 3.0 ports.

The 3rd scenario is where you have devices connected to the affected Intel PCH SATA 2.0 ports and the SATA 3.0 ports are also populated. Here the utility will advice you that the “Use of (the) Intel PCH SATA 2.0 ports is not recommended.”

The GIGABYTE 6 Series SATA Check utility is available for download on the official GIGABYTE website.

08 Feb, 2011 Update - Here's the end user online alert from Intel: “Alert for Intel® 6 Series Express Chipsets and Intel® Xeon® C200 Chipsets users” which release by Intel, Jan 31^st, 2011. http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/sb/CS-032263.htm.

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HWBOT.ORG ran an AMD Highest Clock competition last month and the usual suspects participated in this round with Mad222 taking it out in style with an incredible world record AMD frequency at 7344MHz and highest 1M SuperPi time as well. Congrats to MILANS from Poland on second place and chew* from USA on third. Well done everyone!

Top 3 contestants and 2 lucky draw winners will take this snazzy new E350N-USB3 boards as prizes.

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Q: What is the problem with Intel 6series chipsets?

A: As explained by Intel®, after a period of usage the SATA 2 ports on motherboards based on Intel® 6 series B2 stepping chipsets may experience decreasing performance. This issue applies to all motherboards based on Intel 6 series chipsets from every vendor. However, it will not be an issue for systems that connect to the SATA 3 ports only. Intel® announced this issue and stated that they stand behind their products and are committed to product quality in the following online alert: “Alert for Intel® 6 Series Express Chipsets and Intel® Xeon® C200 Chipsets users” which release by Intel, Jan 31^st, 2011. http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/sb/CS-032263.htm

Q: What models have been affect by this issue?

A: All GIGABYTE P67/H67/P65/PH67 chipset motherboards with B2 stepping 6 series chipsets are effected. All other GIGABYTE models based on other chipsets are not affected, and GIGABTYE continues to be committed to the highest product and service quality standards.

Q: What action should I take if I have already purchased a GIGABYTE 6 series motherboard?

A: Firstly, please determine your computer setup. No action will be needed if you only use the SATA 3 ports. If you are using the SATA2 ports, then there are possibilities that the device’s performance will decrease after a period of usage. To ensure the highest standard of customer support & services, GIGABYTE recommends that all customers who purchased GIGABYTE 6 series motherboards contact their local dealer (retail store where you purchased the motherboard) at the end of April for a motherboard exchange. GIGABYTE will provide an equivalent new motherboard replacement.

Q: What is the GIGABYTE swap policy for GIGABYTE 6series motherboards?

A: GIGABYTE will provide a replacement motherboard with the new 6 series chipset onboard at the end of April in order to reduce any inconvenience to our customers who are affected by this issue.

Q: What is the SOP for GIGABYTE 6 series motherboard exchange?

A: At the end of April please take your 6 series motherboard to the same store where you originally purchased it. If the product is not available at that time, please leave the series number and your personal contact details with the store and wait for further notice.

Q: When will the replacement be available?

A: According to Intel’s production plan, the 6 series B3 stepping chipset will be available by April, 2011. GIGABYTE will produce and ship replacement motherboards according to Intel’s chipset shipping schedule.

Q: For further information or enquiries regarding GIGABYTE 6 series motherboards, please contact your local distributor or visit the GIGABYTE website at http://www.gigabyte.com/.

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Taipei, Taiwan – February 1, 2011 – GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co., Ltd, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards and other computing hardware solutions, today announced that GIGABYTE has been alerted by Intel about a 6 series chipset design error. GIGABYTE is working closely with Intel® to minimize the inconvenience to customers and retail stores with regard to related issues.

A recent statement from Intel <http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/sb/CS-032263.htm>  indicates that they expect full 6 series chipset volume recovery in April, 2011. GIGABYTE will produce and deliver new motherboards with the updated Intel 6 series chipset when the new chipsets become available. GIGABYTE prides itself in having the highest service quality in the industry, and as such we will resolve this issue with minimal impact on our customers.

Additional information will be added to the official motherboard website and this blog as the situation develops.

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