Regarding CPU steppings?

[Iced01]

I have heard they can affect how much a CPU can OC; but do they also give the CPU more performence since it (i assume) fixes errors/bugs from previous stepping? If this is the case, would it not be better to wait for later steppings of a brand new CPU coming into the market?

In other words, if a brand new CPU (lets say the i5) is coming out, would it be worth it to buy it at a later date (until more revisions have come) or does it really not matter and you should buy it as soon as it comes out if you want it

Thanks

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

It would if you knew thered be perf increases down the road, which theres no gaurantee of

 

[Devastator_uk]

A new stepping can mean one or more of the following (but sometimes none):

- Higher maximum clock speed.
- More energy efficient.
- Some new instructions (like SSE...).
- Bug fixes (although rare in processors, they do happen).

The change will not be massive as if it was they would give it a whole new name, but can still be worth waiting if it's only a matter of a few weeks or so. But since new steppings come out all the time it's not worth waiting like 6 months because another new stepping will be anounced and you'll wait another 6 months and so on, and never actually ever get around to buying a new CPU.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Theres almost always bug fixes going on, but theyre minor fixes

 

[archibael]

You won't get new instructions in a stepping without a name change. Or at least I can't recall an Intel case where that happened.