BEST BARTON STEPPING? (unlocked)

[rxtrom]

I am interested in getting a Barton, and want to find out the best steppings, and where to get them. SO if those of you who know, or have a good stepping please let me know. Thanks

[Tyberius]

Ive had great luck with AQXEA, got it at Fry's Electronics a couple of days ago

[The Coolest]

The later the chip the better it is usually. I think the AQZFA is the latest stepping, I saw something like AQYSA or close floating around but it was a locked chip
You just need the newest chip you can find which is a week 38 or OLDer chip.

[rxtrom]

ok so lt me get this strait, the stepping AQXEA is good and none of them are locked even the newest ones? The other new stepping s are all locked. Tiberius i have the same board my FSB is stable at 219, i am getting the 2x256 mushkin L2 in Mon i hope i can keep it at those tight timings, also do you have the CPU interface enabled?
AND does frys guarantee that stepping , that you got? I would be interested in that actually i would order it right now, if i knew for sure!

[rxtrom]

oops i am an idiot i just realized i spelled straight wrong
and that mushkin is 3200 bh-5 by the way

[The Coolest]

Well some of the week 39 and up chips are locked the newer the week the more chance you have of getting locked CPU, the 42/43 week chip are already all locked. So that is why you just need a week 38 or lower chip, the stepping doesn't matter much, but the newest with those dates is the AQZFA, the AQXEA isn't bad, its also an awesome stepping

[Audioaficionado]

My AQXEA is pretty nice. See my sig and profile for details. My cap at 2300 is mostly due to a lagging power supply. Once I get a 350w Fortron I expect to get at least 2400.

[Lord_of_Decay]

Just received my 2800 Barton from New Egg, stepping is below,
AQEXA 0325

From what I've heard its unlocked and can OC rather well, im looking foward to seeing what it can do.

[newhit]

Both mine in my sig are definitely unlocked and both run higher than sig, one watercooled and the other in a tec setup. about another 50-70MHz available if really needed.