DigiTimes reports that Intel has already started shipping fixed B3-stepping 6-series Sandy Bridge chipsets to ‘first-tier makers’ of laptops and motherboards. It’s therefore expected that these companies will ‘unveil their Sandy Bridge-based models at the end of the month.’

This was the expected time-frame that Intel quoted when the story of the Intel Sandy Bridge chipset flaw first broke, and indicates that production of Sandy Bridge motherboards should be in full swing by April.

DigiTimes also has some details of what Sandy Bridge product to expect first, courtesy of Toshiba's distributor in Taiwan. ‘Toshiba will unveil its Sandy Bridge-powered notebooks in Taipei on February 23,' claims the site, 'with the products to be available starting mid-March.'

This also fits with what our sources have told us about the new B3-stepping chipset – that laptop manufacturers are getting a larger share of them than motherboards makers. This is possibly due to the fact that laptops have to go through more QA processes and testing (for keyboards, screens, hinges and so on) than motherboards.

‘Acer and Asustek Computer [typically referred to as Asus] are also expected to begin shipping Sandy Bridge notebooks in mid-March,’ claims DigiTimes. We expect motherboards using the new B3 silicon from the big three manufacturers to be on sale around the same time, or possibly a week or two later.

Gigabyte is expected to use specific branding to highlight boards using the B3 silicon, probably using a shield motif with some text to denote the B3 stepping, and MSI has already shared its B3 logo. We contacted Asus to see if it had any similar plans, but were told it had nothing to share at this point. We expect an announcement soon, however.

Via The Tech Report's Pluto Day Shortbread.

It looks as though everything is on track regarding the Sandy Bridge fix, but is it still too late for you? Let us know in the forums.