Buying an i7 920... should I select a specific chip?

[Aepheme]

I was at my local Micro Center yesterday and saw they had a bunch of i7 920s in stock for $229. I'm unsure how a B&M is selling this processor for so much cheaper than all the online places, but it converted me over from my previous choice of the i5 750.

Anyway, should I look for a certain UPC / place / date of manufacture? (Is there anything like the Celeron chips of old where you looked for Malaysia, May 200x, etc... for overclocking potential?) Or should I just buy whatever they hand me?

Thanks!

 

[tungtung]

Try go for the D0 stepping, these are the code (should be on the label on the side of the box)

SLBCH - Old C0 stepping
SLBEJ - New DO stepping (better overclocker)

But keep in mind usually the D0 are a tad more expensive than the other one (in the order of $20-ish I believe here in Canada - not sure about anywhere else).

 

[v8envy]

When my wife picked up my 920 last September she asked for and got a SLBEJ D0. The microcenter sales guy had no problems looking at boxes on the shelf to get a D0. It was $199 back then, the $30 price raise is a recent phenomenon.

And yes, they're losing about $80 a chip to get you in store with that pricing.

 

[Jeeebus]

if you're buying at Microcenter, it is all but a certainty that you're getting a D0 chip. Back when the 920 was $199 at Microcenter, they were selling them like hotcakes, and so their stock was constantly being refreshed. I doubt it's terribly different now.

That said, as tungtung said above, when the guy gives you the box, just look at the label and confirm it says SLBEJ.

 

[lopri]

Yeah. When I looked (some months ago) at the local MC all 920's were D0. Does Intel even make C0 any more?

 

[Aepheme]

Thanks for the info, everyone! Exactly what I needed to know...

So, it's a loss leader for them? Wow. I'm surprised.

For those who have been there recently, are there any HSFs they carry in-stock that are a good value? I guess I can just order on-line... they probably mark them up in-store to compensate for the CPUs.

 

[vshah]

Thanks for the info, everyone! Exactly what I needed to know...

So, it's a loss leader for them? Wow. I'm surprised.

For those who have been there recently, are there any HSFs they carry in-stock that are a good value? I guess I can just order on-line... they probably mark them up in-store to compensate for the CPUs.

actually i've foudn microcenter's prices on computer components to generally be pretty good - within a few dollars of the online price, for the convenience of having it that day. they have the megahalems for the same price as newegg