Q9550 Steppings

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I just ordered a CPU from newegg. How do I determine what stepping it has and what are the implications of each stepping?
 


Newegg rarely gives you that information. See this Intel Chart: Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor. There are two steppings out there for the Q9550: C1 (SLAWQ) and E0 (SLB8V).

Hopefully, you will get the newer E0 stepping, but the sSpec# should tell you which one you got. Let us know what Newegg is shipping - I'm about to buy that same chip myself.
 


Correct. Honestly, newegg (customer service) doesn't have a clue what stepping their shipping (they could set up a system to check that - but it would be cost prohibitive). They have different warehouses and different stock levels, so keeping up with inventory specifics like steppings would drive them insane. One thing we get for the better pricing there is the lack of those specifics. With that said, they depend on high turnover, so we benefit by getting the "freshest" product in the pipeline. Good luck and let us know what you got - yes, it will be on the package.
 
An up to date cpu-z will tell you the stepping of the cpu, be it a Q9550 or Phenom 9550.

Steppings are revisions of the cpu die and can indicate overclock ability, bug fixes, stability.
 
If you just ordered the Q9550 from NewEgg then you should be getting the latest stepping which is EO. I bought mine a month ago and it is the EO stepping. When you get the CPU, check the S-spec for SLB8V, that will be for EO stepping.
 
SLAWQ (C1) vs. SLB8V (E0)

I really want to buy a Q9550 from newegg but ... im scared ill get a C1 instead of a E0 if i buy right now Dec 2008.

Here is my reasoning:

1. The guy with the third newest review on newegg... Ordered on November 22 and got a C1 stepping. (two above him didnt say, probably dont know/dont care.)

2. On 12/2/2008 10:27:02 AM, a guy who claims to have had the q9550 under a week said he got C1 stepping.

3. 6 People who posted in November 2008 all claimed they were disappointed that they got a C1 instead of an E0.

Now to make things strange and inconclusive,

1. A guy on 11-30-08 said he got an E0 and has had it for between 1 week and a month.

2. Another on 11-26-08 said he got E0 from newegg, has had it for 1 week to 1 month also.

3. Yet another on 11-24-08 got E0, has had 1 week to 1 month.

4. Again on 11-22-08, E0, had 1 week to 1 month.


This all leads me to believe that this is a horrible time to purchase from newegg, because last month they had a supply of E0, but now they do not. This makes sense because they are giving out the processor with a free farcry 2 game. Probably this is designed to sweeten the pot of giving out the older revision of stepping c1. Sad, but the logic fits! I guess i will call them, but that will do no good, so ill probably try to locate another store to buy from.

Well there you have it.
 
If you want E0, then buy from somewhere that will tell you ahead of time. I got my E0 Q9550 on ebay, and verified it was E0 before the purchase. I also got MS Live cashback too, so the total for a new retail Q9550 was $225. If you're concerned about buying on ebay, this chip is sitting at 3.8ghz Prime stable right now on stock voltage and minimal tweaks. So I'd say it was a good buy.
 
How do I use MS Live Cash Back... id like to do that. And ebay sounds fine to me. I bought one thing on it before, so this sounds like a good time to try again.
 


I'm not doubting you dude - just thought that would never happen with Newegg 😱
 


Sounds like you got a great deal. I looked just now and dont see anything even close to this deal. Everything is over $300 with shipping. I really want an E0. And it doesnt look like any way to get the live.com cash back on any of the purchases there on this. But ill keep watching there for a bit.
 
How do I use MS Live Cash Back... id like to do that.
Click to expand...
You need to use Live Search, link is below.
http://www.live.com/

A few of the other parameters are that you need to have a PayPal account andalso need to sign up at Live.com for an LiveID.

You have to Buy it from Buy It Now at full price. Then in about 60 days they send the savings to your PayPal account.
Right now the cashback is at 15% and will vary (was 35% off on BF and 30% off on CM). Also you can buy from other online retailers as long as they let you pay from PAYPal.

Hope this answers all you questions.
 
Yeah, Yoosty pretty much gave you all the info, but I will add that you don't have to search on Live.com for the Q9550 itself... you can search for whatever, like "wii" or something like that. When you see the link to ebay, which should be near the top, it will say something like " get 25% cashback on wii" or something to that effect. Click that link, it will take you to ebay, and then in ebay's search engine you can type in Q9550. Like Yoosty said, as long as you pay with Paypal, you should be golden. It will tell you before you confirm how much cashback you are going to get, if any.

By the way, I just checked and I was only seeing 8% right now... ouch. I got my Q9550 when it was at 25%. I'm sure it will go back up soon for the holiday shopping season. Good Luck!
 


Are you saying that after I find an item using this page: http://search.live.com/cashback
.. that i have to ultimately click through their checkout (newegg is the one i just did today) but i have to choose to use paypal to pay instead credit card directly through that vendor?

When I read the instructions for live.com cashback, it only talked about using paypal for ebay purchases, and never mentioned the need to use it for any other sponsored and listed vendors, but rather that i needed to click through their page to get to the vendor and purchase within that session (not to exceed 24hrs).

2.75% is pretty lame if you got 25%. I didn't buy the Q9550 yet from anyone, i tested live cashback on some memory first. As for purchasing after the holiday season, I was counting on holiday prices, and therefore have purchased 80% of the parts already, and if i dont finish soon, my 30-day return option for defective parts will disappear, and without the CPU there is no way to put it all together and make sure things are good. So im kinda stuck now. I need to find a good price on a new retail E0 really soon.
 


yeah, it's only through ebay that you have to absolutely use Paypal, although I think it says with the Live instructions they recommend it for everywhere else too. Generally buying through vendors like Newegg, you will get a really low percentage. Buying through ebay, the percentages will be much higher, although like was mentioned, right now the percentage is pretty low. 15%-20% is usually the norm.
 
I ordered my 9550 on 12/6/08, recieved it on 12/10/08 and it was an E0 stepping. because of the xigmatex cooler i ordered and not ordering the retention bracket (which i think they should include with the hs) i have'nt built the system yet. I'm still waaiting on the bracket as the push pins are a joke.
 



Unfortunately, I must have been one of the unlucky ones... Just received mine from Newegg a few minutes ago and it is a C1. Is it really that bad?
 


Something is weird here. Around the 1st of November, everyone was was reporting that Newegg was shipping the E0 stepping. Now, for some reason they are shipping the C1. Seems that, either Intel is "clearing out" older C1 steppings or Newegg had a quantity of the C1's that they are clearing out over the holidays.

I always used Newegg as a "standard" for efficient stock rotation and the freshest inventories (latest steppings, revisions, etc) - now it seems this is not necessarily a given. Perhaps it's a sign of this economy and Newegg is reducing inventories (even if it means selling "dated" stock).

I do feel it was misleading that they began selling the latest (E0) stepping as far back as Oct. and November - and now are shipping an older C1.

 
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