Intel Core i3 and Core i5 CPUs Get Upgraded Stepping

As it often happens, CPUs get updated to a new stepping once they have been around long enough, and Intel has just announced that several of its Core i3 and Core i5 Series “Clarkdale” processors will be moving on to the K0 stepping and leaving behind the existing C2 stepping.

Changing the silicon stepping that a central processing unit is fabricated on does not have too large a bearing on the performance.

Nevertheless, those with more advanced steppings are known to have certain optimizations, even better overclocking support than others.

The several chips that will be subjected to this update will start showing up in stores starting next month.

There are several Intel Core i3 and Core i5 chips that will employ the new silicon, two of which are Core i3 and the rest Core i5.

The two Core i3 models are the 2.93 GHz Core i3-530 (new sSPEC: SLBX7) and the 3.06 GHz Core i3-540 (new sSPEC: SLBTD), whereas the Core i5 chips are the 3.2 GHz 650 (new sSPEC: SLBTJ), the 660/661 (SLBTK/SLBTB) and the 670 (SLBTL).

The changes implied by the K0 stepping are several, such as stepping package pin compatibility with the C2 stepping (of course) and, naturally, the new S-spec and MM numbers that have already been mentioned.

In addition, the host RevID will be changed from 0x12 to 0x18, whereas the extended CPUID will switch from 0x00020652 to 0x00020655.

Furthermore, the stepping adds Processor Context ID (PCID) support.

In order to fully recognize the new K0 stepping processors, motherboards will have to be subjected to a BIOS update.

As for the upcoming Intel Core i3-550, i3-560, i5-665K, and i5-680, they will be built with the new stepping from the get-go.

The exact date on which Intel's updater central processing units are slated to make their appearance is October 16, 2010.