Optiplex 990 and Sandy Bridge issues

Yes you should be eligible for a replacement of either the system or motherboard. contact Dell

The funny thing however is that my system was ordered and delivered just in April 2011. I would not have expected Dell to assemble the faulty old version of the chip still at this time. Any thoughts?

I have read that some special BIOS setttings might lead even current B3 chipsets to identify themselves as the faulty B2 version. I see no way to have a look at the actual model numbers on top of the chips, as the huge cooling assembly is covering almost every piece of silicon on the motherboard.

Could this BIOS topic be an explanation here? Any other suggestions how I might try to identify the actual version of the chips in my Optiplex 990?

Has anyone solved this problem or even advised you of a solution?

I have the identical issues. I upgraded my BIOS to A03 and my chipset drivers to the latest versions. Not only do HWinfo32 and CPU-Z show the system as having B2, but so too does the ASUS SATA Verifier (see http://event.asus.com/2011/mb/Identify_B3_Motherboards/) and the method using Device Manager that HP recommends (http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&objectID=c02712015). Everything indicates this system has the B2 version of the chipset.

(Intel also distributes a program to detect which version of the chipset is installed, but it only seems to run on systems with Intel motherboards.)

I contacted Dell about this in early May, and since then I have been in Tech Support H(D)ell. Most of the people I've either talked or chatted with were completely ignorant. One technician even said that unless I could prove my system what having trouble now, Dell would do nothing. Of course this is absurd since according to Intel the problem only occurs if you have devices attached to SATA channels 2-5 and then it manifests itself through gradual degradation of performance with noticeable effects in about three years.

Among the few Dell representatives who seem capable of understanding the issue (no comment about the intelligence and technical competence of the rest), the answer seems to be as follows:

Yes, various software and multiple methods show your system as having the defective chipset with B2 stepping. But at http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/6/sb/CS-032521.htm Intel says some software sometimes detects B2 when a system in fact has B3. Therefore, we do not accept any of your results as definitive proof that we sold you a system with the defective chipset. The only definitive test is to disassemble the computer, remove the heat sink from your chipset, and inspect the S-Spec marking and compare it to the list in this document:http://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/specupdate/324646.pdf. Unfortunately, we cannot tell you where the chipset is on your motherboard, and so you will probably have to remove the heat sinks on this and other devices on your motherboard just to find it. This will, of course, void your warranty. Intel also warns against this, saying only "qualified and trained professionals" should do this (see http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/sb/cs-009245.htm), but we refuse to send one to your site to verify that we did not send you the defective chipset the four software methods you used say we actually did send you.

I find this totally outrageous. Mistakes do happen (as Intel's recall demonstrates), and perhaps Dell or one of its suppliers accidentally installed the wrong chipsets in these machines. ASUS, HP, Intel, and other manufacturers all provide convenient software-based ways to verify the right chipset is installed. But in a month of trying, I've come to the conclusion that not only does Dell provide absolutely no way to verify the version of the chipset, but Dell doesn't very much care what its customers think about this.

My information says that the Q67 was not subject to recall, only the P67 and H67.  This is also confirmed (as much as anything on wikipedia) here : en.wikipedia.org/.../List_of_Intel_chipsets and also here : pcstats.com/articleview.cfm.

Asus is the only manufacturer to say that they have a motherboard with a Q67 affected.  I'm not sure if they got early ones or if they are mistaken.