Intel resumed shipments of a flawed chipset for use with its new Sandy Bridge processors, responding to demands from PC makers who will use the chips selectively.

On January 31, 2011, Intel disclosed a design issue with a support chip, the Intel 6 Series Chipset that has the potential to impact certain PC system configurations.

After discussing the issue with with computer makers Intel is resuming shipments of the Intel 6 Series Chipset for use only in PC system configurations that are not impacted by the design issue.

Only computer makers who have committed to shipping the Intel 6 Series Chipset in PC system configurations that are not impacted by the design issue will be receiving these shipments.

Intel said that this resumption of shipments of the Intel 6 Series Chipset is not changing the company?s updated first quarter 2011 and full-year financial Outlook published on January 31st.

In parallel, Intel has started manufacturing on a new version of this support chip. Intel now expects to begin shipping the new parts in mid February.

In related news, Intel is expected to start shipping its dual-core Core i5 and i7 microprocessors based on the Sandy Bridge architecture for laptops starting on Feb. 20.

The new microprocessors will draw between 17 watts and 35 watts of power and run at speeds between 1.4GHz and 2.7GHz, according to the chipmaker's website.

The first Sandy Bridge processors to ship were quad-core chips, mainly for high-end laptops. The dual-core chips will likely go into end-user and ultraportable laptops.

Intel will ship six Core i7 microprocessors and four Core i5 processors. The fastest Core i7 chip is Core i7-2620M, which includes 4MB of cache and runs at a clock speed of 2.7GHz, but can be cranked to 3.4GHz under certain conditions. The rest of the Core i7 dual-core chips include the Core i7-2649M processor (4M Cache, 2.30 GHz, 25W), the Core i7-2617M (4M Cache, 1.50 GHz, 17W), the Intel Core i7-2657M (4M Cache, 1.60 GHz, 17W) the Core i7-2629M processor (4M Cache, 2.10 GHz, 25W) and the Core i7-2617M Processor (4M Cache, 1.50 GHz, 17W).

The fastest Core i5 is the Core i5-2540M processor, which runs at a clock speed of 2.6GHz and can draw up to 35 watts of power. It will include 3MB of cache. The new Core i5 family also incudes the i5-2537M Processor (3M Cache, 1.40 GHz) and the i5-2520M processor (3M Cache, 2.50 GHz).

Intel will also reportedly unveil the first 22nm CPUs at Computex 2011. According to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report, the company has completed the design of its 22nm Ivy Bridge processors and will showcase the new CPUs at Computex Taipei 2011 in June.

Intel's rival AMD has ramped up the production of its Llano APUs and is expected to begin shipping the APUs to ODM/OEM makers in May.