Nvidia Corp., a leading developer of graphics processors and system core-logic, as well as EVGA, a supplier of graphics cards and mainboards, have released a new BIOS version that is supposed to fix some of the problems that end-users reported to have with mainboards based on Nvidia’s latest high-end chipset.

“Nvidia would like to thank all of EVGA’s customers who have purchased the Nvidia-designed nForce 680i-based motherboards and who have patiently been waiting for a fix to the SATA issue,” a statement posted by Joe Darwin from EVGA company reads.

Users in several forums, particularly, in EVGA and Nvidia tech support forums, reported about “lock up” and “disk error” issues with Serial ATA hard disk drives and RAID capabilities of the Nvidia nForce 680i SLI core-logic. Some end users even could not install Windows XP operating system, whereas others could not use their systems flawlessly for long and some even reported data corruption. The majority of customers, however, reported no problems.

“Together with EVGA we are testing a new BIOS that fixes the SATA issue that some readers were experiencing. In the meantime, we are releasing a beta version for you to use. If you feel that your BIOS needs to be updated, we will be posting a link to download the new BIOS and instructions how to flash your motherboard,” Mr. Darwin said.

The new BIOS version, according to an Nvidia spokesman Bryan Del Rizzo, should correct the issues with Nvidia-designed mainboards supplied by other companies, such as BFG Technologies, and produced by a contract manufacturer under Nvidia’s supervision. However, the companies did not reveal what was the source of the issues reported by end-users and also did not comment on reports of similar issues with previous-generation chipsets by Nvidia Corp. It was also unclear why some users of the Nvidia nForce 680i SLI-based motherboards had the problem and other did not.

Some users in EVGA forums still report about issues with Nvidia nForce 680i SLI-based mainboards, including problems with sound, issues with TCP/IP offload PS/2 keyboards and so on. In addition, a few users claimed that their Serial ATA problems remained even after flashing the new BIOS.