Intel Core i7-3960X and i7-3930K CPUs Transitioning to C2 stepping in January

[Cristian_25H]

As previously reported, Intel's first wave of Sandy Bridge-E processors have VT-d (Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O) disabled due to an errata in the C1 stepping. That issue couldn't be resolved in time for the launch but it's getting fixed with the C2 stepping which is set to start rolling out to customers on January 20th, 2012 (samples have already been delivered).

The CPUs moving to the C2 stepping are the hexa-core Core i7-3960X (3.3 GHz) and Core i7-3930K (3.2 GHz). Beside the fixed VT-d, the C2 chips will feature new S-spec and MM numbers so a BIOS update for current motherboards will likely be required.



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[Bundy]

Good news, maybe this might help drop the price of the current stepping from its stratospheric heights.

 

[claylomax]

How about i7 3820? Are they going to skip C1 for this cpu? Will it also be released (i7 3820) on the 20th of January?

 

[(FIH) The Don]

srsly, they should give a rebate on the new stepping if ppl already bought their 600-1000$ cpu's

i think that by selling off the first revision they fuck ppl over , make money, then they can release refined versions

boooo-fucking-hooo Intel

 

[LiveOrDie]

Good news, maybe this might help drop the price of the current stepping from its stratospheric heights.

I doubt that it will just replace it why saying at the same price till the C1 fade out.




The C1 only had a small problem which didn't affect normal pc users so why would they refund people when all the C2 does it fix a simple problem D0 will be the big Overclocker?

 

[qubit]

Yup, whoever bought these early chips are gonna start kicking themselves now, especially given the price they paid for them...

 

[LiveOrDie]

Yup, whoever bought these early chips are gonna start kicking themselves now, especially given the price they paid for them...

Why who uses VT-d?

 

[(FIH) The Don]

its nto just the vt-d

new revisions usually come with better overclocking abilities, less voltage needed, and sometimes they are even cooler

remember CO vs DO with the x58 chips?

 

[the54thvoid]

Yup, whoever bought these early chips are gonna start kicking themselves now, especially given the price they paid for them...

Not me

I wanted to get one so i did. I don't use the tech at issue and I'm happy with a SB chip to overclock. People who dive in first do it because they want to and they know the downfalls.

And the price wont shift much at all.

 

[LiveOrDie]

its nto just the vt-d

new revisions usually come with better overclocking abilities, less voltage needed, and sometimes they are even cooler

remember CO vs DO with the x58 chips?

Even so with the short period of time between the two i don't expect much or any improvement intels aim was to fix vt-d and get the revision out asap for company's that use this feature.

 

[qubit]

Not me

I wanted to get one so i did. I don't use the tech at issue and I'm happy with a SB chip to overclock. People who dive in first do it because they want to and they know the downfalls.

And the price wont shift much at all.

If you don't care for those features, then sure, you'll be ok.

 

[LiveOrDie]

Also take this into account your forgetting some think Ivy Bridge which ill be upgrading to, So will may other people so this C0 will do me though till then .

 

[radrok]

Since my CPU has yet to arrive (Italy lol) I might just cancel the order and wait for a full Xeon chip :|

 

[Hayder_Master]

its nto just the vt-d

new revisions usually come with better overclocking abilities, less voltage needed, and sometimes they are even cooler

remember CO vs DO with the x58 chips?

it's only one time happen, usually new arrive CPU's have higher VID, remember LGA 775, also i try it too with 1156 with I7 860, i was have first release of 860 001 it have 1.15v VID, my friend have 002 it have 1.2v VID, and i can run it at 3.8ghz using 1.1975 less than 1.2v.

 

[repman244]

Why who uses VT-d?

Just because you don't use it, doesn't mean that it's a useless feature. And you would expect a high end chip to include such features.

And usually the new stepping brings other improvements as well like (FIH) The Don already said.

 

[Lionheart]

I wants an 8 core ^_^

 

[fullinfusion]

glad I waited...

 

[Lilo0o]

I might be wrong, but according to Intel, VT-d functionality is not disabled in SB-E (C1):
http://ark.intel.com/products/63697/Intel-Core-i7- 3930K-Processor-(12M-Cache-3_20-GHz)
And according to the specification update, the VT-d errata has already been fixed for C1 steping:
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/core/core-i7-lga-2011-specification-update.html

 

[LiveOrDie]

Just because you don't use it, doesn't mean that it's a useless feature. And you would expect a high end chip to include such features.

And usually the new stepping brings other improvements as well like (FIH) The Don already said.

Ether way i dont care im happy with my CPU and once Ivy Bridge-E comes out ill upgrade my CPU.

 

[mediasorcerer]

I think the pricing is outrageous for these chips, is the performance really that much better than previous i7 chips? So much so that its double, cos theyre double the price!!!

 

[techtard]

The prices are higher because this is supposed to be the Professional platform, for people who use their computers to actually make money.
They make tons of money selling these to people who use workstation level platforms.
They also make tons of money off n00bs who don't know what they're doing.

Gamers who buy these are either:
1) Ignorant and think more expensive = better
2) Need a new E-peen extension
3) Or they like to push technology to the limits with overclocking, extreme benching, and the like.

So if you are just an average user, or a gamer stick with the SB i3 or i5 series.

The only benefit I can see in this platform is if you are running Pro level graphics cards (Firestream/Firepro from AMD, or Quadro & Tesla from nVidia.) plus are running an enterprise level SSD or extreme RAID setup. And you like to get your work done as fast as possible.

 

[-=SNIPER=-]

intel to offer C1 to C2 CPU Swap??

http://tbreak.com/forums/topic/65500-intel-core-i7-3960x-and-3930k-to-get-c2-stepping-in-january/

 

[15th Warlock]

intel to offer C1 to C2 CPU Swap??

http://tbreak.com/forums/topic/65500-intel-core-i7-3960x-and-3930k-to-get-c2-stepping-in-january/

I don't use VT-d, but am interested in the new S-spec and how might affect the OCing on the new stepping, I read the PDF linked in your message, but how does Intel plan to implement this? Should I contact Newegg directly?

 

[radrok]

I don't use VT-d, but am interested in the new S-spec and how might affect the OCing on the new stepping, I read the PDF linked in your message, but how does Intel plan to implement this? Should I contact Newegg directly?

Probably, you just have to tell Newegg that Intel applies this policy and you should be fine

 

[LiveOrDie]

Will this be world wide ? what will they do with all the old C1 CPUS LOL