What the heck is cB0 cC0 stepping?

[Paul]

What does this mean? I haven't bought procs in awhile and feel that I am lost. Please define these terms.

 

[Supradude]

i'm not totally up to speed technically with this either, but to my basic knowledge it has to do with the production batch that the chip was made. Certain batches come out and prove to clock better than others, these then become the "popular" "got-to-have-it" line of a certain speed of chip?... the cb0 was supposedly a very good clocking batch for the p3 700's, but then the cc0's came out and proved to be even better... it may actually be harder for you to find a cc0 nowadays without paying a little extra...

 

[Deeko]

It is the stepping. The later ones were newer, that were "tweaked" to go faster. cB0 is better than the first(cA0?). It is able to reach higher clock speeds, and overclocks better. cC0 is even newer/better, but if I remember correctly, they had a bug and were recalled? Or maybe it was a bug before they were relased...don't really know what actually happened to the cC0, for all I know it IS released and fine....but hey at leat I defined it

 

[Paul]

Say I'm looking to buy a P3-850 slot-1. What do I look for to make sure it has cC0 stepping? Also, what is stepping?

 

[bryan2010]

Stepping is minor changes to the core of the chip that fixes some problems with the 'mirco-code' of a CPU. I think
Bryan

 

[beb]

I asked a simular question the other day and was given this address. It has some good info on it
http://support.intel.com/support/processors/sspec/icp.htm

 

[compuwiz1]

Paul, I have just finished testing a PIII 850 Slot1. It's a cB0, but works fine at 1050MHz.


PIII 850 Slot 1 @ 1050MHz

 

[Paul]

beb Thanks for the link, it seems that voltage is different and cC0 stepping means "These processors implement independent Vtt and Vcccore power planes." Whatever that means.

compuwiz1 Thanks for the offer, but I can get one for ~ $210 after some dealing and I already have a cooling setup ready.

How do I check the stepping once I get my proc? Is it in the product code?

 

[Sunny129]

Paul, i guess the question now is has the CPU you can get for $210 been guaranteed to run @ 1050 mHz like the one compuwiz1 offers? if you are looking to OC, it is known that the overclockability of the Coppermine core P3 decreases significantly after the 733 model. although most people say its the luck of the CPU, the P3 800's (E's and especially EB's) are known to be less than good OCers. and knowing that 1 GHz is the average limit of the Coppermine core, the closer you get to 1 GHz when buying a rated CPU, the less it will OC, both in mHz and percentage OC. there's no telling how much (or how little) a P3 850 will OC. IMO, i would take a P3 850 guaranteed to run @ 1050 mHz rather than chancing it with one that isnt guaranteed. if you were OCing a P3 650E or 700E, then it would be fun to try your luck in OCing, but not with an 850.

 

[compuwiz1]

How's your Ram deal coming Sunny? BTW thanks. I checked pricewatch and the lowest shipped price for an 850 SECC2 Retail Boxed was $270 from Googlegear. I'm sure they dont include an overclocking guarantee or Alpha at that price.

 

[Sunny129]

no prob Compuwiz...tomorrow i get back on the phone with company A to order my RAM. i talked to john and asked hiim his thoughts on selling to a company who in turn is going to sell to me, since thats the only way i wont lose more money. he doesnt want to work through a complicated deal like that when he can sell RAM like hot cakes in the forums as it is, and i dont blame him at all. so it looks like my only option with company A is to get them to buy from Mushkin. so with mushkin being my only option right now, i think i'm going to try their rev3. i know its a different chip than the rev2's mosel vitalic chips, but they are guaranteed to a certain performance level just like the rev2, and a better performance level at that.

at any rate, i'll keep you updated over the next month or so...i should have my RAM in two weeks and my new system up and running by the end of the month. its kind of an interesting saga...the adventure of Eric's struggle to build a system and the hardships of obtaining parts...

 

[Paul]

Thanks for the replies. In any case, overclocking will just be bonus for me.

 

[lilstevo]

You guys know how well a p3-800 cc0 would overclock?

 

[compuwiz1]

lilstevo, I haven't seen one yet.

 

[Supradude]

the cc0's are great clockers, don't have an official number, but one of my friends got one and he says it's great, maybe i shoulda asked for a number... = P