cBO Stepping worth another $20?

[jkpen]

Just how important is the latest stepping?

I have all the new components in hand to build my new system, with the exception of a mobo and cpu.

I could bore you with the details, but won't put you folks through that. (Although I am really excited about building my first system from hand picked components.<g>)

I have decided on the CUSL2 mobo and a PIII866. Waiting on 933 to drop within reason, but already have everything else ready to go. By simply waiting until the last minute to order my cpu, I am now able to get the 866 for the same price the 800 was only 3 weeks ago. I have a sense of urgency to get this baby up and running, before my other brand new components become obsolete. (Sad isn't it?)

Thanks for listening,

Joe

 

[br0wn]

all 800+ Mhz are cb0 stepping...

if you want to overclock....get the 100Mhz one....

my 700 is running at 1085 atm

 

[Ulysses]

1. All P3's @ 800 MHz and more are cB0 or better.

2. The cB0 stepping is only important if you are going to overclock, in which case you should be getting a P3 cB0 designed for the 100 MHz FSB, not for the 133. Typically overclockers get a 700/100-750/100 P3 and shoot for 933/133-1000/133.

See: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=27&amp;threadid=209861

 

[jkpen]

see below

 

[jkpen]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Funny how Atacom can list a higher price for their 850 - 866 by claiming the cBO stepping. They even had me believing that the 866 was available in a 100 fsb speed. Glad I waited on the cpu until now.

http://www.atacom.com/program/atacom_www.cgi?Pagecode=CPU&amp;cart_id=4876708_24_4_252_231&amp;USER_ID=www&amp;ordered_number=1&amp;Disp_item.x=24&amp;Disp_item.y=13#CPUXOVEI


One more question. If I am running at default clock and bus speeds, will the EB outperform the E? Even though both may be an 850, will the 133 have higher benches than the 100 cpu?

Thanks again.

Joe

 

[Ulysses]

As to your question:

1. The 850 only comes in the 100 MHz FSB version, which may be referred to as an 850E. There is no 133 MHz FSB version.

2. The 800 comes in 100 MHz and 133 MHz versions. The 800EB (133) will definitely outperform the 800 (100). The faster bus is almost always better since info is fed faster to and from the CPU which is running at the same speed in either case.

3. If you look at non-overclocked high-end PC's, they almost always have a 133 MHz FSB. See:
http://www.pcworld.com/top400/article/0,1361,18173,00.html

Nighty-night.

 

[DirkBelig]

I'm getting 927MHz out of my P3-700, Slot One Retail for the last three months! AND I paid $70 less for it than am 866 costs.

 

[Bill L.]

Let's see. You get a PIII 866 for about $350, and I just ordered a PIII 650 for $164. I set my FSB to 133 and I have the same processor as you do. Only difference is that your CPU is guaranteed to run at 866 and mine isn't.

Well, if mine doesn't I'll just take some of the money I saved and get another one. It was guaranteed to be a cBO and this place also had guaranteed cBO PIII 700s for $189. Should get it today

Bill

 

[potac]

Go with the 700E. I run mine at 1008 and it is very stable. The 750 might even be better but I haven't tried it at all. The 700e is a pretty popular proc to o/c.

 

[jkpen]

Thanks again everyone.

I must have been really tired last night. I knew better.

I can appreciate the fact that you guys are getting some great overclocks out of your 650's &amp; 700's. I am currently running an original 366 Celeron @ 550 on a BE6-2 w/ an alpha. During normal use, it runs very stable. Once I get into what I really enjoy doing with my system, it becomes less stable and locks up about 10% of the time. The reason I am building this system is for online racing. Laugh if you will, but I take this competition very seriously. I am currently 2nd in points (out of 80 racers) in the league I race in. I have zero tolerance for a system that will not run smoothly every night of the week for a 2 hour race session. For that very reason, I always back my celeron off to the &quot;guaranteed&quot; 366 while racing. I didn't want to convince myself that the overclock was the culprit of my once a week screen freeze, but since I backed it down it has been flawless.

Call me conservative, candybutt, or whatever better fits my above description; but I want a machine that offers the most stable environment available to run these points races on. Besides, the Champion takes home $200 at the end of the season. That's the plan for now. Looks like I will stick with the 866EB after all.

Thank you all for reassuring me that I have made the right decision.... In a round about way. <g>

Joe

 

[bonkers325]

nothing is sure win
try to save money hehe
good luck

 

[utopia]

the 700 cb0 seems to be the most popular one..

 

[subhuman]

rock solid stable