What can I do with this?

I've got an ASUS A7V8X-X in the mail along with an Athlon XP 1700+ with an Igloo hsf. I consider myself new to AMDs since my last one was a 333Mhz K6-2. What can I expect of this CPU and mobo? Also, if someone could explain steppings to me I'm in the dark with that too. Thanks

If you're talking about what kinda OC performance you should get out of this combo, it should perform very well. Generally 1700+'s overclock to 2.0ghz and past depending on which stepping you get (it is generally ASSUMED that tbredB's and DLT3C cores OC better than tbredA's DUT3C core). Even if you don't overclock it's still going to be a good performing system.

Stepping info can be found here: http://www.overclockers.com/tips00173/

Ok, basically what you need to know is this.

Palamino's have a square core. They aren't unlocked and it is hard to hit 2 ghz, 1600-1900 are common. Tbred A's have a rectangular core and a code XXXXA (example: AIUGA, AIRGA,RIRGA). They tend to clock around 1800-2100. Tbred B's have the same rectangular core but are code XXXXB (JIUHB, JIUCB, AIUHB). They come in 1.5v and 1.6v flavors. (DLT3C and DUT3C) The 1.5 volts have higher amperage and tend to overclock better. Tbred B's clock from 2000 (the weak JIUCB core) to around 2600 (A real good JIUHB DLT3C).

1) Tbred As do not exclusively have a DUT3C code, nor do Tbred Bs have a DLT3C. This is merely the OPN code which specifies the core voltage, package type and FSB speed of the processor. Tbred Bs can have lots of these codes the 1.5v DLT3C 1700 or the DKV3C 1.65v 2400 - both are Tbred Bs. The clue is in the stepping code which is on the last line.

2) Tbred Bs can come in higher voltage flavours - 1.65v is the highest they go I think.

Aside from that JIUHB is currently the best open-market performer but rumors abound about JIXHB and AIXHB steppings doing extraordinarily well, but I don't think anyone here has one yet.

The stepping of a processor is the minor design revision that takes place as a line of chips is being manufactured. Engineers see what types of problems are occuring (probably by OCing the procs) and tweak the design of a few traces/areas to provide better scalability.

Thanks for the info everyone, I should get the chip and board in soon. I'll post up the numbers and see where it goes from there.

I don't wanna rain on your parade dude but you will never be able to overclock that chip to it's full potemntial because of your motherboard. The A7V8X has no pci lock so the FASTEST fsb you will attain is 147 or so unless you're willing to scrap the data on you hd because it will corrupt past 37-38 on the pci bus.

Got everything in and running finally! If I can't OC too much, no biggie. I only paid 60 something bucks for the mobo (cheap to me considering I was looking at a close to 200 mobo alone). I'm checking the Asus site now to see if there's a BIOS flash for it.

Here's the code for my CPU btw... It's a Thoroughbred A I think.

AXVA1700T3C
AIUGA

Yea, that is definatly not too good, the mobo though will most likely to be able take you into the 190s of MHz on the FSB depending on your RAM, you can always lower the multiplier if the CPU is limiting you. The FSB is very important in system performance than the raw CPU speed, a PC at 2GHz and 200MHz FSB will prolly outperform a PC at 2.1-2.15GHz and 133MHz.