I5 3330 Motherboard Compatibility

[DRKaz92]

Hey guys(girls), i been coming to the site for a while now reading the articles and what not and i finally decided to register on the forums. I'm a tech newbie so im hoping i can get some help with my question.

I'm planning on buying an Ivy Bridge i5 3330 for a gaming build, i already have all the other parts i just need the CPU and MOBO. The MOBO i plan on getting is this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157304

Now here is the problem, i dont have a sandy bridge CPU to flash the BIOS and update it to support all the Ivy bridge CPU's, i was originally going to buy a i5 3350p, cause it's 10$ cheaper and i dont need an integrated GPU since i have 2 discrete graphics cards, but the motherboard doesn't support this CPU with out a BIOS Update so instead i decided to go with the i5 3330 since i saw it was compatible with the default BIOS on board. But on the CPU support list from their website it says it's compatible with the i5 3330(E1) and for the i5 3330(N0) i need BIOS Update. I did a google search to find out it was referring to the stepping of the CPU, i dont really understand what that is but is there a way to find out if the i5 3330 im buying is E1 or N0? I dont want to have to ship the CPU back and pay a re-stocking fee if is not compatible with my mobo, im on a tight budget.

CPU i will be buying from newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116781

Any insight on this will be much appreciated.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

First of all I wouldnt count on getting an N0 stepping since I am not even showing that it has been lunched on our site. http://ark.intel.com/products/65509/Intel-Core-i5-3330-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_20-GHz under order sspec and stepping.


As far as find out the stepping on a processor you can look at the outside of the box and you will find the part # BX80637I53330 and on the end of that you will see an SSpec # that will id that processor down to the stepping from our site at ark.intel.com.

 

[DRKaz92]

I checked the part # of the processor i'm buying from newegg and referenced it on your website, it's telling me the processor stepping is E1. Thanks alot for your help and quick response, now i can order the MOBO and CPU with out hesitation knowing it's compatible right out of the box.

 

[DRKaz92]

Best answer selected by DRKaz92.