Untainted MSI Sandy Bridge motherboards tip up

TAIWANESE HARDWARE MAKER Micro Star International (MSI) has announced motherboards with fixed Intel Sandy Bridge chipsets, signalling the end is in sight for troubles stemming from last month's Cougar Point recall.

The two new mainboards are the P67A-GD80 (B3) and the interestingly named Big-Bang Marshall (B3). Both look like powerful bits of kit - the PC67A-GD80 looks good for PC enthusiasts, while the Big-Bang Marshall is particularly suitable for gamers and those needing a bit more power. There are no details on pricing as yet.

Intel announced a recall of Sandy Bridge chipsets due to a flawed Cougar Point chip last month. Potential buyers should note the B3 steppng label if they want shiny new 2011 Sandy Bridge motherboards, as that is used to distinguish fixed boards from bug-ridden ones.

Companies are currently listing Sandy bridge motherboards with the B3 stepping technology, but most aren't available yet. The MSI mainboards have 'MSI B3 Stepping Ready' labels, which means that they have the latest Cougar Point chipsets.

Previously MSI had revealed it was lucky enough to get hold of B3 stepping Cougar Point chips that don't suffer SATA performance degradations, and now it says it is currently repairing and replacing motherboards affected by the recall. µ