Intel X58 Chipset Moves from B-2 to B-3 Stepping in April

[malware]

Intel will be moving its current high-end X58 chipset to B-3 stepping, the company announced in a recent official notification to motherboard makers. The IOH (I/O Hub) component of the Intel X58 Express chipset is converting from the current B-2 stepping to the new B-3 stepping. This step will require manufacturers to do a re-qualification, although both revisions are pin-to-pin compatible. No modifications or changes in the design of current motherboards will be needed for the new chipset stepping. First batch of B-3 X58 silicon will become available to board manufacturers on April 10th. The B-3 chipset marking will be replaced from SLGBT to SLGMX.

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[Disruptor4]

Any idea on what it exactly changes/fixes/improves?

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Any idea on what it exactly changes/fixes/improves?

Ditto.

I suppose it will work with D0 processors out of the box (without BIOS update for CPUID) but is that the only change?

 

[imddg69]

And to think I just baught my new board for Christmas.

 

[Deleted member 3]

Without knowing what is changed I don't think anyone could care. Plus, if they don't say what's changed I'm guessing it's nothing major.

 

[imddg69]

I agree!

Believe me, I won't care either unless it increases benchmark scores by 50% or more, or makes games play like they were real life. I seriously doubt anyone will go out and upgrade if they've aready got a mobo that supports DDR3.

 

[ShadowFold]

People buy intel branded boards? Or is this info for OEM builders?

 

[PCpraiser100]

Dammit! $300 down the drain! I hope this doesn't scrw up compatibility with the Westmere chips.

 

[eidairaman1]

they need to notifiy the change on the carton of the mobo along with the Etailers specifying what the differences are

 

[Hayder_Master]

i don't know what intel want and what they doing , but only i think they do something good for them not for us

 

[Binge]

i don't know what intel want and what they doing , but only i think they do something good for them not for us

Yes because obviously they aren't filling the needs of the consumer but they are playing the role of "Evil Dictator"

 

[Wshlist]

It's quite costly to start a new stepping I was given to understand, so it seems odd everybody dismisses it as 'probably doing next to nothing' when they change a chipset or even a CPU stepping.

 

[Duffman]

People buy intel branded boards? Or is this info for OEM builders?

it's for all manufactures who use the X58 chipset from intel.