difference in stepping on i5 6600k

[urbancamper]

I noticed on the box of my i5 6600k there is something called "S-spec SR2L4." I decided to look it up since i am kind of wondering what generation of this particular cpu this is.

According to CPU World my cpu is the Second Stepping. The first was SR2BV. There is actually a third one but that was for engineering and qualifications samples. It was QJEC.

Since Stepping QJEC is for engineering and qualifications samples, and Stepping SR2BV was the first public release, I understand that Stepping SR2L4 was a later release.

Release date aside, what is the difference between the SR2BV cpu, and the SR2L4 cpu.

 

[Blas]

https://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/29

So it's basically just a design revision, an improvement: the more recent the stepping, the better the chip, theoretically. I don't think chipmakers publicize the exact things that have been improved in a new stepping, though, so you probably will never know what the exact differences are. Making chips is a very long and expensive process. When a chipmaker decides to change a design (=a new stepping), it better be worth it in terms of performance, or consumption, or whatever other benefit. When the first Core i7-E came out (the Nehalems), there ended up being 2 different steppings of the core i7 920, C0 and D0. D0 (the newer stepping) ran cooler because it needed less voltage, and it overclocked better for the same reason. So it was overall a better chip, but comparable to the former stepping (same default clocks, same absolute performance).

I don't think i've clarified much, but well, i've tried 😉

 

[DonkeyOatie]

As mentioned above, steppings refer to production refinements and design revisions of the silicon, to improve yield, identified ways to make the chip less expensively, or deal will identified issues.

It is something to consider for an overclockable CPU. The later steppings will almost always have a higher average overclock. The top end does not change, but the improvements bring the 'bottom up', so the probability of getting a 'slug' decreases.

C0, the engineering samples, are like Beta Test and are a bit of a raffle and may barely meet design specification and may not have as long a lifetime at full load.

Manufacturers tends to keep quiet about the changes made in steppings for trade secret reasons. However, if they address a specific issue, like overheating, the will announce the 'new' fix.