Stepping

[nigelf]

I've been looking into processors and they have different steppings. What is stepping? what does it do? where is the difference?

Thanks in advance for answering my question (I realize that it is probabely somthing simple and stupid, but you never know ...)

 

[mpjesse]

In a nutshell, core steppings denote very, very minor changes in processors. Sometimes there's no change at all and rather it was just a change in the equipment used to make the cpu. It's really hard to define because microprocessor manufacturers do not openly tell anyone the difference in steppings. So a lot of times no one truly knows what the difference is.

Generally speaking though, you should try to get processors with the latest steppings. However this can be very hard because sellers/stores do not usually specifiy what stepping the cpu is.

However, a lot of times enthusiasts discover that a specific stepping overclocks very well or very poorly. This can vary greatly.

Your best bet is to google the stepping you have or looking for. Sometimes you can find an explanation to the new step. Most of the time you'll just find dates the new stepping was introduced.

Hope this helps.

-mpjesse

 

[nigelf]

thanks a lot