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Intel Core i7 920 - Moving to D0 Stepping

Tejstar

Tejstar

Tejstar

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Intel has just announced that it is moving from C0 to D0 stepping on Intel's Core i7 Model 920 only (low end, 8M L3 2.66 GHz 4.8 GT/s LGA1366).

The update will be fully electrically and mechanically compatible, but will require a new BIOS update. From the announcement:

"Intel is initiating a C-0 to D-0 stepping conversion for the Intel® Core™ i7-920 processor where it will undergo the following changes:

  • New S-spec and Material Master numbers for the converting products.
  • CPUID will change from 0x000106A4 to 0x000106A5.
  • The electrical, mechanical and thermal specifications remain within the current specifications. Intel anticipates no changes to customer platforms designed to previous Intel guidelines.
  • Readable serial number will be removed from the package ink swatch to fully mitigate the potential risk of the IHS cosmetically overlapping a marked serial number. There is no change to the ULT matrix content which continues to contain the serial number."
Click to expand...

Thought it may be worth pointing out if anyone is planning on buying one soon.

EDIT: Apparently the first availability of the D-0 step boxed and tray i7 920 processors are expected to be in early March.
 
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hopefully it means better/higher overclocks and less heat
possibly like amd did with the phenom series it may be to correct an error in the chips coding
 
Readable serial number will be removed from the package ink swatch to fully mitigate the potential risk of the IHS cosmetically overlapping a marked serial number. There is no change to the ULT matrix content which continues to contain the serial number."
Click to expand...

????
 
I'm eager to know the real-world differences too. Apparently, the first availability of the D-0 step boxed and tray i7 920 processors are expected to be in early March.
 
sir-les-mp said:
hopefully it means better/higher overclocks and less heat
possibly like amd did with the phenom series it may be to correct an error in the chips coding
Click to expand...

Why not "worse/lower overclocks"?

The 940 (which does not undergo any change) is a pointless buy as it is currently.

Could be cheaper material for 920's for a move towards a lower entry price in preparation to kill AMD's new range (assuming the performance gap will be narrow).

Who knows thought, only food for thought!
 
drak3 said:
Why not "worse/lower overclocks"?

The 940 (which does not undergo any change) is a pointless buy as it is currently.
Click to expand...
That's my thinking at the moment actually, only making it the cheapest one gives my a hunch that they're doing it to reduce costs, perhaps by reducing the core size by sacrificing raw clock speed potential by rearranging the logic and resizing components.
 
Fudzilla is reporting that the i7 940 and i7 965 is due to be replaced by the i7 950 and i7 975 respectively. What's interesting is that they say both new CPUs will come with the new D0 stepping which will increase overclocking potential, which should be the same for the i7 920 with D0 stepping.

Additionally, both CPUs will carry Intel's new D0 stepping, which promises better overclocking potential as shown by Fugger and Mikeguava from XtremeSystems in their 3DMark 05 world record set on the 975 Extreme.

Additionally, some internal testing has been done by motherboard manufacturers in Taiwan who have reported significant overclocking potential over the C0 stepping launched back in November. A few days ago, Intel also revealed that it will launch its Core i7 920 D0 revision on March 2nd. We can expect higher overclocking potential from this chip as well, although no specific performance increases are known as of yet.
Click to expand...
 
Tejstar said:
Fudzilla is reporting that the i7 940 and i7 965 is due to be replaced by the i7 950 and i7 975 respectively. What's interesting is that they say both new CPUs will come with the new D0 stepping which will increase overclocking potential, which should be the same for the i7 920 with D0 stepping.
Click to expand...

Hopefully Fudzilla actually has any kind of clue on this one, if they can get over 4ghz on air easily i might consider buying one now instead of holding off until next year.
 
I fear that the new 920 will be limited on overclocks, somehow.

The article says the price will be the same, so why would anyone buy the "higher spec" (on paper) chip (940)?
 
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Talrinys said:
Hopefully Fudzilla actually has any kind of clue on this one, if they can get over 4ghz on air easily i might consider buying one now instead of holding off until next year.
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Unless they spend more money making them overclocking can not be improved without extreme cooling.

Intel is not a charity, so I believe something is not right here.
 
Pred said:
Because i plan to watercool it and squeeze the best overclock out of it.

If they are saying the revised 920 is better at overclocking and more stable it would make sense to get that one.

Or am i just being pedantic. ;)
Click to expand...

Could be better and worth waiting, or could be worse/locked and then unable to source an old/better batch.

Its a gamble, like everything else nowadays :)
 
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