E8400 E0 Stepping

I will be building a new rig soon with an E8400 CPU and I've noticed some online shops do not say which stepping their E8400 is, while others actually state that they are selling the E0 stepping (which apparently overclocks higher).

Does anyone know if most/all E8400 CPU's currently being sold in UK online shops is the E0 stepping version, or if I should buy from one of the few shops that are definitely selling the E0?

I recently bought an E8400 from EBuyer in the uk, and they delivered an E0 stepping. Cheap too. If you give em a bell they will let you know the steppings, although I suspect they only have E0 8400 stock.

When describing it to them, bear in mind it is easily differentiated from the C0 stepping by the size of the retail box, which is a lot smaller than the older chips. Also the product code will contain 'SLBJ9'.

Fantastic bit of kit, fast as all hell. Watch out for compatibility with motherboards though. My motherboard doesn't officially support it (abit...), so it limits my overclock. Others have had issues as well.

Either way, good luck with your shiny new processor.

Thanks. I'm hoping to buy it from scan.co.uk along with the rest of my build. I have sent them an email asking if they know which stepping they are selling.

I have ruled out getting the E8600 because it's overpriced here in the UK. I'm still not sure whether to get the E8500 over the E8400.

My hardware will be;
E8400 or E8500
Asus P5Q Pro motherboard
OCZ 4GB (2X2GB) PC2-8500 RAM
Thermalright Ultra 120A CPU cooler + Yate Loon 120mm fan.

I want to keep this setup for atleast 18months, so I do want to eventually overclock it to it's max as soon as it starts to get old.
Do you recommend the E8400 or E8500 based on the above info? Which will get a higher overclock with my hardware?
I know the E8500 has a higher multiplyer of 9.5, but will that make a big difference since I will be using 8500/1066 RAM anyway?

Thanks for your help so far.

Anyone know what the difference between the C0 and E0 was? yeh sure they usually enhance something but this time round at least on intels site all specs are still the same.