Similar Intel glitch affects high-end workstations By Ian Fried

Staff Writer, CNET News.com May 10, 2000, 4:45 p.m. PT Intel has been quietly working for months to fix a glitch with high-end workstations similar to the desktop computer problem announced today.

In February, Intel stopped shipping its high-end 840 chipset for use with traditional memory because of problems with a companion translator chip.

Intel said earlier today that a glitch with a translation chip that goes with the 820 chip set for PCs could cause systems using traditional memory to reboot or hang and may cause data loss. Intel said fixing that problem may cost up to several hundred million dollars.

Both the 820 and 840 originally were designed to "talk" to specialized Rambus memory, but translator chips that enable the use of regular DRAM chips were developed amid concern over the cost and availability of Rambus memory. The 820 uses a chip known as a memory translator hub, while the 840 adapter is known as a memory repeater hub.

Intel said only a small number of systems using the 840 memory repeater hub and traditional memory have shipped. It said it is working with computer makers and affected customers to resolve any problems. The memory repeater hub was also earlier affected by a different bug.

Intel added that it is now testing a revised version of the memory repeater designed to reduce signal noise.

A Hewlett Packard official said today the company has stopped shipping two models of its Kayak workstation line with traditional memory and has also halted production of those systems. The Kayak XM is a workstation that uses the 820 chipset while the XU uses the 840 chipset.

"The designs are very similar between the two," said Denis Bournival, HP's program manager for desktops in North America.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), May 11, 2000