Intel Finds Problem In Some Grantsdale Chipsets

A fraction of Intel's new 915/925 chipsets, formerly code-named Grantsdale, were produced under a faulty manufacturing process and shipped to OEMs and system builders before their launch early last week, an Intel spokesman said Friday (June 25).

However, Intel believes it discovered the problem before more than "a handful, if any" systems with the bad boards were sold to end users, the spokesman noted.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker said an isolated batch of the Grantsdale chipsets came out of its manufacturing facility without a thin film layer properly removed from their die pads. The result was a potential electrical problem on the chipset that would cause a system to boot incorrectly or not at all, the spokesman said.

Intel has identified the chipsets in question and already contacted OEMs and system builders to recall them. "We think we caught almost all of it," the spokesman said. But he declined to say how many units were affected by the glitch, citing a "quiet period" before Intel's upcoming earnings announcement.

No faulty chipsets have been shipped since Monday, June 21, when the Grantsdale chipset was officially launched, the spokesman said.