Processor stepping? Who, how, what????

[jimdot]

I have some questions about processors & stepping & how it works. If I understand it correctly, stepping is just a newer version of code for the processor,,, correct? Then that leads me to the next few questions. Is it something you can update your processor with? How is that done? From whom do you get the new code,,, the processor manufacturer or via the mobo maker???. Where do I look to see if new stepping is available?

I have a 1st gen AMD FX-8150 & I know there are issues with the memory controller being able to run 4 slots at 1866MHz so I'd like to be on the look out for any new revisions in the future that might resolve that & therefore my questions.

I'd much appreciate anyone whom can unconfuse me about all this   

Thanks in advance,  Jim

[absic]

Hi there,

A new stepping version of a CPU is usually due to a tweak made at the manufacturing stage and not to the BIOS or AGESA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGESA) Code updates. For example the Phenom ii CPU's come with three stepping versions. The original processors had C2 stepping which was later altered to C3 and this basically introduced higher clock speeds and better power usage. When the X6 processors came along these had E0 Stepping (also some of the later X4 CPU's had this version too). Among other improvements the E0 stepping made it safer to run RAM at 1600MHz which was a known issue with the C2 & C3 stepping processors. If you want a CPU with a different stepping then I'm sorry to say you have to buy a new processor, when they finally come along.

With regard to the FX Processors running 1866MHz with all four DIMM's populated, this is not a problem with the CPU's or their memory controllers but is more about which brand of RAM you try to run. Yes, AMD only "officially" support faster RAM Speeds with only two DIMM's populated but this is the same for Intel too. It doesn't mean that you can't do this but it does mean that you manually have to configure things to work properly and that you have to do more research into which RAM is guaranteed to be compatible and able to work as specified. Care should be taken with this as some RAM manufacturer's only guarantee specified speed with two DIMM's populated. Corsair have some Quad Channel kits that will work OK but, once again, the key here is to check RAM before buying.