Intel heeft bekend gemaakt dat het de i820 Cape Cod moederplanken met een defecte Memory Translator Hub wil vervangen voor i820+RIMM exemplaren. Naast het vervangen van brakke mobo's zal Intel ook SDRAM reepjes omwisselen voor RIMMetjes. De complete terugroep operatie kan Intel een schadepost van 300 miljoen dollar opleveren wanneer alle kopers hun Cape Cod plank ter vervanging aanbieden. Volgens EBN Online werkt Intel op dit moment aan een nieuwe MTH, maar wil het niet zeggen wanneer deze gereleased wordt:
Now, with the defective MTH components effectively forcing Intel to adopt an all-Rambus product plan for its 820 chipset family, customers who had previously purchased the slower boards will receive what amounts to an automatic upgrade."This would be a very high price for Intel to pay, depending on the number of boards to be replaced," said Bert McComas, an analyst with Inquest Research Inc., Gilbert, Ariz. "The 820 board itself isn't cheap, and if Intel is forced to replace lower-cost SDRAM DIMM memory with Direct RDRAM at three to four times higher prices, this could be significant."
However, Peck estimated that the return rate would amount to only about 10% to 20% of users -- though he said there would be an unknown added administrative cost associated with processing the recall. Also unknown was whether the return rate might rise, if customers begin viewing Intel's offer less as a recall and more as a chance for a free memory upgrade.
[...] The company said it has designed an upgraded MTH that corrects the current flaw, and is in the process of testing and qualifying the new MTH. No timetable has been set for its release. Representatives for Intel and Rambus Inc. claimed the defect was limited to the MTH component and did not occur in 820 motherboards that natively support Direct RDRAM.
Al met al een perfecte constructie om toch in het bezit te komen van onbetaalbare Rambus reepjes .