Dell replaced the motherboard for the computer with an Intel chipset error

On March 23, 2011, Dell said it would start contacting customers directly to replace the motherboard on computers with Intel's Sandy Bridge chipset.

>>> Intel chipset "stick" error

The company will replace the free motherboard (BMC) for customers who have purchased the XPS 8300 desktop , Vostro 460, Alienware Aurora , or Alienware M17xR3 laptop and received it before March 1, 2011. Dell said that some computer models may carry an Intel chipset code-named Cougar Point is faulty, because the machine is delivered before it knows the problem.

In a blog post, the company said its working groups will start contacting customers with faulty BMC this week to replace the Cougar Point chipset bug. BMC replacement services and related services (may vary by region) will be provided free of charge. This work will continue for weeks to come.

In late January 2011, Intel announced that there was a design error in the chipset that was used in computers with new Sandy Bridge processors introduced in early January 2011. Computer manufacturers such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Lenovo have stopped shipping Core i5 and i7 processor computers with faulty chipsets. Computer firms also compensated by refunding or replacing BMC for customers who bought these machines.

Intel said that the Serial-ATA (SATA) communication controller in this chipset could degrade over time and could affect the performance or features of storage devices such as hard drives.

Intel quickly resolved this issue and in mid-February 2011 began shipping chipsets that were debugged. Newly announced notebooks for personal and business users from Dell, HP, Lenovo and other computer vendors.