Hi, ive found a E6600 Core 2 DUO chip for only $389 aus but the thing is the STEPPING is B1. as far as i know the latest stepping for the E6600 is B2. just wondered if there was any MAJOR differences between the new stepping and whether i will really notice the difference.

stepping ? I was clueless.. then I found this....

http://www.hkepc.com/bbs/itnews.php?tid=627088

yeah thanks mate. stepping is like a version of the chip i guess you could say. no chip is EVER perfect and when they fix things or make small changes they bring out a new one. a step up from the other one, therefore the name it is given is stepping.

it appears the stepping b1 was the engineering chip that original tests were run from and proved not to be as good for overclocking. so the problem was solved and the version released to the public was B2. however some places on the net still sell the B1 stepping and i will be keeping away from it after reading that article and a few others.

makes you wonder what your buying without knowing it sometimes doesnt it.

http://processorfinder.intel.com/List.aspx?ProcFam=2558&sSpec=&OrdCode=

this is the latest steppings for all the conroe chips.