amd stepping

[athlonxp]

what is the meaning of the stepping number such as AGOIA,AIUGB,RIRGA, etc.................. ?????

i know some can oc more and some can't.

[jmichna]

They are code numbers tied to specific production lots of chips. For the TBreds, the last letter indicates whether they are TBred-As or TBred-Bs. Supposedly, the first letter of stepping code is an indicator of the "quality" of the chip.... A's are supposed to OC better than J's, for example.

Here's a link to an article at Overclockers.com (http://www.overclockers.com/tips00173/)
"Two Kinds of TBredBs

There are high-end and low-end TBredBs. They aren't all the same. The high-end ones on average perform several hundred MHz better than the low-end ones.

You can identify which type of TBredB it is by looking at code that begins the second line of coding on the processor. If you see a code like "AIUHB" that begins with the letter "A," that's a high-end TBredB.

If you see a code like "JIUCB" that begins with the letter "J," that's a low-end TBredB.

Here's how these codes translate in real life with real chips: ...."
(refer to link above for remainder of article)

[athlonxp]

do that mean i have a low-end t-bred A RIRGA ???

[jmichna]

Originally posted by athlonxp
do that mean i have a low-end t-bred A RIRGA ??? I guess -- according to the author of the (referenced) article at Overclockers.com -- RIRGA stepping would not be a great candidate for reaching overclocking extremes.

If it were my cpu, I'd make the determination myself by seeing what the processor could do. ;)

[benknobi]

Usually, "Steppings" are used to designate new batches that have had improvements made. Then they may run a few hundred batches of the new stepping until they are ready to institute some more slight improvements and then they release a new stepping with the improvements/fixes. This is not exactly the same as a major Core Revision like the move from the "A" to "B" Tbred.

It seems in AMD's case they are also using Steppings to designate Good cores (A's) and less than Good cores (J's).

Basically I think the "J"xxxx steppings are speed binned to lower grades because they can't cut the mustard at the higher speeds, and lower speed "A"xxxx steppings are being speed binned because of Market demand in certain speed grades and AMD doesn't have enough of the "J"xxxx chips to meet demand.

This may be a good sign that AMD is getting the Process down and getting better yields if they have enough good chips to go around to start filling market demand with good chips in the lower speed grades. It could also mean that AMD is having trouble selling the faster more expensive CPU's and might as well get some money out of them at lower speeds than let them collect dust on a shelf?