The chipset, also known as Southbridge, is essential in any system. It is responsible for managing connectivity, such as USB ports, SATA ports or Ethernet connectivity. Additionally, they may have overclocking capabilities or RAID volume management.
We can say that they are quite simple and efficient control chips that, in many cases, only require passive heatsinks. This does not mean that, due to manufacturing or design defects, they can cause significant problems.
Serious problem with Intel chipsets
Although we associate the chipet with the motherboard, laptops also integrate this element. They are usually much simpler in terms of features than those integrated into motherboards intended for gaming systems.
Between 2015 and 2018, Intel suffered serious problems with its chipsets intended for laptops. A defect in the manufacturing process caused them to function incorrectly. Due to this defect, the Southbridge ended up heating up more than it should. If this is already a problem on a desktop computer, on a laptop where everything is more compact, the problem is even more serious.
You should know that there were a total of four models affected by the Intel design flaw. Specifically, the models were the following:
- Dell XPS 13
- HP Spectre x360
- Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon
- Microsoft Surface Laptop
These laptops were affected by several serious operating problems. The first problem was excessive temperature in the chipset, which ended up causing a thermal problem in the system.
Due to the excessive temperature and as a protective measure, the system reduced its performance to protect itself from the high temperature. As a consequence of the high temperatures, completely random reboots occurred. Finally, constant blue screens of death (BSOD) occurred.
As it was not a problem with one manufacturer, but rather a general one, the source of the problem was quickly identified: Intel chipsets. Faced with this situation, the company had no room for manoeuvre and simply offered to solve the problem for those affected.
To prevent this problem from happening again in the future, the company has made changes to the chipset manufacturing process. The company has implemented improvements in the development, manufacturing and verification processes of these components. This does not mean that this defect could not happen again in the future.
Obviously, this problem had a huge financial impact on the company, as it had to repair tens of thousands of laptops. It also created a reputational problem for Intel and its customers, who suffered a considerable loss of customers.
As far as we know, something like this has never happened with Intel chipsets since then, which means that the company’s new protocols are effects. This does not mean that other problems cannot occur in the future.