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E2160 and E2140 New L-2 to M-0 Stepping, BIOS update required

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Intel document source -> HERE (PDF)

Quote : (for those lazy to download that document) :)

Product Change Notification

Change Notification #: 107667 - 01
Change Title: Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Desktop
Processors E2160 and E2140,PCN 107667-01,
Product Design, L-2 to M-0 Stepping
Conversion, Reason for Revision: Updated
Description of Change

Date of Publication: July 03, 2007

Forecasted Key Milestones: Jul 27, 2007
Date of Samples Availability: Jul 13, 2007
Date of Qualification Data Availability: Sep 28, 2007
Date Customer Must be Ready to Receive Post-Conversion Material: Jul 23, 2007
Date of First Availability of Post-Conversion Material: Jul 23, 2007

Description of Change to the Customer:

Reason for Revision: Updated Description of Change.
  • Removed “Extended HALT power specification will reduce from 12 Watts to 8 Watts” statement as the L-2 Intel Pentium dual-core processors E2160 & E2140 Extended HALT power specification is already 8 Watts and is not changing
  • Added Brand string will be set to report “Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual CPU” as the L-2 Intel® Pentium® dual core processors E2160 and E2140 brand string was set to report “Genuine Intel(R) CPU” because an “Intel(R) Pentium(R)” string was unavailable with the L-2 stepping

The Intel® Pentium® dual-core desktop processors E2160 and E2140 will undergo the following changes for the L-2 to M-0 stepping conversion:

  • New S-Spec and Material Master Number for the converting product
  • CPUID will change from 6F2 to 6FD
  • The Electrical and Mechanical Specifications remain within the current specifications. Intel anticipates no changes to customer platforms designed to previous Intel guidelines
  • Thermal specification has changed:
    • Maximum allowed Case Temperature will increase from 61.4°C to 73.2°C
    • Tcontrol offset will remain the same relative to 0 with the increase in maximum allowed Case Temperature, which will help reduce acoustics
  • Brand string will be set to report “Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual CPU” as the L-2 Intel® Pentium® dual core processors E2160 and E2140 brand string was set to report “Genuine Intel(R) CPU” because an “Intel(R) Pentium(R)” string was unavailable with the L-2 stepping
  • Minor visible difference between the L-2 and M-0 packages (see below for a visual comparison).
    • While the packages are visually different, the M-0 package is pin-compatible with the L-2 package and Intel anticipates no changes to customer platforms designed to Intel guidelines.

L2 M0 Stepping.JPG

Customer Impact of Change and Recommended Action:

Minimal re-qualification and/or validation is expected for the M-0 stepping conversion due to no feature set changes between the L-2 and M-0 steppings. Thermal qualification may be required if a new thermal solution is implemented to take advantage of the maximum allowed Case Temperature change.

Refer to Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Desktop Processor E2000 Sequence Electrical, Mechanical, and Thermal Specifications (EMTS).

The Intel® Pentium® dual-core desktop processors E2160 and E2140 on M-0 stepping will require a BIOS update. Once customers implement the BIOS update, they will be able to accept both L-2 stepping material and M-0 stepping material. Customers should be ready to receive a combination of both L-2 stepping material and M-0 stepping material by the "Date Customer Must be Ready to Receive Post-Conversion Material" above.

The below listed E2160 1.80 GHz samples (QYRJ, MM# 889707) are limited to the marked frequency, but are not frequency locked. Therefore, customers should down-clock these samples to also qualify the Intel® Pentium® dual-core desktop processor E2140 (1.60 GHz) for the L-2 to M-0 stepping conversion.

To facilitate earlier qualification and enable “First Availability of Post-Conversion Material,” customers may use the Intel® Pentium® dual-core desktop processor 2.40 GHz M-0 samples (QZMV, MM# 890043) provided late June 2007 for an Intel® Pentium® dual-core desktop processor NPI. The 2.40 GHz M-0 samples are also limited to the marked frequency, but are not frequency locked such that customers can down-clock them to qualify the Intel® Pentium® dual-core desktop processors E2160 and E2140 L-2 to M-0 stepping conversion.


Brief summary :

Looks like Intel's die yield is getting better and better every day. :D

Since BIOS update is mandatory, if you're planning to buy E2160 and E2140, beware if your mobo doesn't yet support it, especially you don't have other supported CPU to boot up for flashing the BIOS. :bang head
 
What is the perfromance like on this E series conroes ? in comparison to the X2's ?

ot: Thanks again for the quad xeon + p5k dlx help !
 
Nice -

Another stepping change yielding both lower power dissipation and a higher max thermal spec!

I swear Intel's on about the best run I can recall in a helluva' long time.

~ Strat ~
 
run cpu-z, in the article it says they changed it. (i think)

Uhh, one question for computer techies that can read and understand all the jargon:

They said, the cpu-z are not locked and should be downclocked... Does this mean there is an unlocked multiplier?! =O

The higher temperature tolerance is always a welcomed change. =)
 
SH0DAN said:
What is the perfromance like on this E series conroes ? in comparison to the X2's ?

ot: Thanks again for the quad xeon + p5k dlx help !
im just gonna let this guys thread do the talking.
Celey_L 420 oc to 3ghz vs FX-57 @3ghz this is a single thread app comarasion.
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=516089

but a E2140/E2160 vs a X2 at the same clock speed they might be about the same or the E21xx slightly faster but not by much. cause now your comparing a Core 2 cpu with 1mb L2 vs x2 with 1mb L2. instead of a Core 2 with 2/4mb L2 vs x2 1mb L2.


i wonder how these are gonna oc compared to the L2 steppings.
 
uhh. The conroes are 1.33 to 1. clock for clock against a X2. Everytime you halve the cache, it goes down 5-7 percent? So on the E2xxx series, its 800fsb and only one quarter the normal cache. They are still faster than an X2. I think a E2xxx clocked to 3ghz (or was it 3.2?) is about the same as a X6800.
 
They compared it on Xbitlabs but the E2 was running at 3.4. LINK

I have an E2160 and an 5600+, the former clocks further 3.4 doable while that's not possible with the 5600+.
Clock for clock they are about equal but the 5600 has better rams that might help.
But the temps I did not see the E2 over 50C and the 5600+ goes over 60.
TomsHW tested these new cpus and seems power consumption decreased must run even cooler.
 
White_Pawn said:
They said, the cpu-z are not locked and should be downclocked... Does this mean there is an unlocked multiplier?! =O

The way it read to me, I understood it to mean that the CPUs are limited to go no higher than their marked frequency (in terms of multiplier), but that they can/should be downclocked to simulate the slower processor in the family (since processors in a given family are mostly defined by their max multiplier anyways).

In other words, sounds exactly the same as their current processors. Multiplier freely adjustable downwards. It's like what people already do in tests. If they don't have a slower processor, just lower the multiplier of a higher one to simulate it.
 
White_Pawn said:
uhh. The conroes are 1.33 to 1. clock for clock against a X2. Everytime you halve the cache, it goes down 5-7 percent? So on the E2xxx series, its 800fsb and only one quarter the normal cache. They are still faster than an X2. I think a E2xxx clocked to 3ghz (or was it 3.2?) is about the same as a X6800.

It's not quite halve the cache = 5-7% drop. It's app-dependent, at least from 4MB to 2MB. The 1MB chips are pretty consistently ~5% lower per clock though. But still incredibly fast for the money especially for oc'ers when above 3GHz.

Here's a nicely done review where I found this out:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/pentium-e2160.html
 
Should you guys ever need help in verifying your bios whether it supports these new stepping or not, just post here the URL to your bios file.

No promise though, currently just for AMI or Award bios, but I will try my best. :)
 
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