To be more specific, in our opinion once the Athlon systems are up and running they are incredibly stable processing platforms. In fact, when logging miscellaneous errors and lock-ups we've found that the AMD-750 chipset is roughly as stable as the time-tested Intel 440BX chipset.

That's quite a testimonial considering the disastrous stability level of the then-new AMD Super7 platform in 1997 and early 98, which was about as stable as a tectonic plate fault line.

As third party Athlon chipsets begin to show up on the market over the next few months we'll be watching closely to see if they're able to maintain the strong stability precedent that the AMD-750 chipset has set.

With stiff competition from the strong ASUS K7M, as well as the threat of newer more feature-oriented Athlon mainboards arriving early next year, the MS-6167 may wind up getting lost in the shuffle.

That would be a shame really, as the 6167 proved itself to be every bit the equal of the other Athlon mainboards we've tested in terms of performance and stability, as well as offering a good price point.

MSI should be proud of the last minute clean up work that went into the MS-6167's engineering, as it has clearly delivered the desired effect AMD was looking for in terms of a solid Athlon platform. We look forward to MSI's future high-end desktop platforms, including their VIA KX133-powered Athlon board as well as their upcoming i820 Pentium III platform.