Contemplating picking up a high-end memory kit? You might want to think again as Corsair has revealed that a percentage of Elpida Hyper ICs are failing.
At present, just about all of the available ultra-high-end DDR3 memory kits utilise Elpida Hyper ICs, and following reported failures from forum users, Corsair took it upon itself to investigate and found it was able to reproduce similar failures in its labs.
Although the cause of the problem is still being determined, Corsair adds that the rate of failure is deemed to be unacceptable. The California-based memory specialist has consequently pulled all impacted modules, and asked retailers to return memory kits already in circulation.
We've spoken to Corsair and the message to existing users of impacted modules (that's TW3X4G1600C6GTF, TR3X6G1866C7GTF, TR3X6G2000C8GTF, TR3X3G2000C7GTF, and TR3X6G2000C7GTF kits) is to continue to use the memory as normal. Corsair states that the chances of failure are slim, and its modules will continue to be backed by its standard warranty.
Elpida's Hyper ICs are used by the majority of big-name memory providers, including the likes of Corsair, G.Skill and OCZ, and we'd expect them all to make their customers aware of the current problem.
Corsair has advised HEXUS that its engineers are currently working on enhancing its screening process to help identify and eliminate any failure-prone modules, but adds that it is currently unable to indicate when affected modules will return to retail.
Corsair's official statement reads as follows:
We have seen a number of reports across various forums about failures of modules (from Corsair as well as from other memory manufacturers) built with Elpida “Hyper” RAMs. Through lab testing, we have now been able to reproduce similar failures. We are continuing to test to determine the cause of these failures. Note that although a relatively small percentage of “Hyper” ICs appear to be affected, the rate of failure is not acceptable to Corsair or to our customers.
Due to these failures, we will no longer sell Hyper-based modules until the issue can be resolved. We have also have asked our retailers to return any modules they currently have on their shelves. Products impacted include TW3X4G1600C6GTF, TR3X6G1866C7GTF, TR3X6G2000C8GTF, TR3X3G2000C7GTF, and TR3X6G2000C7GTF. We are working on enhancing our manufacturing and testing process to be able to offer these parts again as soon as possible.
We continue to stand behind these modules 100% with our standard warranty, which can be found at http://www.corsair.com/warranty/default.aspx.
