Gigabyte has released a free tool that purportedly checks whether or not the SATA ports of your LGA1155 PC are affected by the Intel SATA controller fault.
Called Gigabyte 6 Series SATA Check, Gigabyte says the utility was released to ‘help our customers optimise SATA performance on their 6-series mobos’ and will tell you ‘if the SATA ports that you are using are in fact the affected Intel PCH SATA 2.0 ports.'
Usefully, the utility isn't tied solely to Gigabyte motherboards either. Gigabyte describes the app as a ‘simple program that will work on any 6-series chipset based mobo, and has three possible scenarios that offer different advice for users to configure their SATA devices.’ As such, you can safely ignore the 'For Gigabyte motherboards only' message in the screenshot opposite, making this a potentially useful tool for consumers dealing with a confusing issue regarding their shiny new LGA1155 kit.
Gigabyte confirms what most manufacturers are now saying about the fault in Intel's H67 and P67 chipsets: ‘essentially, if you’re using one or two SATA devices then this chipset issue need not affect you at all because you can connect your devices to the two white SATA 3.0 ports.
However, if you’re using three or more SATA devices, you may want to prioritise your more important devices on the white SATA 3.0 ports (e.g. the 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).’
We should stress that this utility does not fix the problem with the chipset, but merely makes it super-easy to identify whether you’re using the affected ports of your motherboard or not. If you're affected, then you need to disconnect your SATA devices from these ports and plug them into the unaffected ports – either the SATA 6Gbps ports or any ports that are controlled by a separate SATA controller chip.
Are you running a Sandy Bridge system? If so, are you going to use this tool and just swap your drives around, or are you going to RMA your board when fixed models become available in April? Let us know in the forums.
Called Gigabyte 6 Series SATA Check, Gigabyte says the utility was released to ‘help our customers optimise SATA performance on their 6-series mobos’ and will tell you ‘if the SATA ports that you are using are in fact the affected Intel PCH SATA 2.0 ports.'
Usefully, the utility isn't tied solely to Gigabyte motherboards either. Gigabyte describes the app as a ‘simple program that will work on any 6-series chipset based mobo, and has three possible scenarios that offer different advice for users to configure their SATA devices.’ As such, you can safely ignore the 'For Gigabyte motherboards only' message in the screenshot opposite, making this a potentially useful tool for consumers dealing with a confusing issue regarding their shiny new LGA1155 kit.
Gigabyte confirms what most manufacturers are now saying about the fault in Intel's H67 and P67 chipsets: ‘essentially, if you’re using one or two SATA devices then this chipset issue need not affect you at all because you can connect your devices to the two white SATA 3.0 ports.
However, if you’re using three or more SATA devices, you may want to prioritise your more important devices on the white SATA 3.0 ports (e.g. the 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).’
We should stress that this utility does not fix the problem with the chipset, but merely makes it super-easy to identify whether you’re using the affected ports of your motherboard or not. If you're affected, then you need to disconnect your SATA devices from these ports and plug them into the unaffected ports – either the SATA 6Gbps ports or any ports that are controlled by a separate SATA controller chip.
Are you running a Sandy Bridge system? If so, are you going to use this tool and just swap your drives around, or are you going to RMA your board when fixed models become available in April? Let us know in the forums.
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