Taiwanese wire Commercial News is reporting today that Intel will ration BX/ZX chipsets supplied to motherboard manufacturers by as much as 50 per cent come September. And, as reported here earlier, it is attempting to shift the mobo makers to the 810 chipset, without much success. But, says the wire, local manufacturers are already switching to chipsets from Via and SiS instead, causing a shortage of those parts and price increases. All the major mobo makers have received notice of shortages, including FIC, Asustek and MicroStar. Nevertheless, a highly reliable deep throat at Intel Israel has told The Register that Chipzilla has no sinister intent and that, on this occasion, the company just screwed up on BX/ZX supplies. He denied absolutely allegations made by Tom Pabst yesterday that Intel had created an artificial shortage just to put pressure on hard-pressed rival AMD (Chimpzilla). Said the Intel deep throat: "Tom Pabst's speculation is inaccurate. Intel has pushed the chipset fabs far beyond their design limits to satisfy demand." Whatever the reason, the lack of BX/ZX chipsets is causing much angst in Formosa, as manufacturers attempt to gear up for the pre-Yule rush. ® See also Intel confirms months-long mobo shortage Component shortages threaten mobo manufacturers Tom's HW speaks out over alleged mobo muscle