Intel 9th Gen Core CPUs get R0 stepping, motherboard makers reveal

Highlights: Intel 9th Gen Core series CPUs are getting a new stepping (revision in design) called R0 stepping The revision reflects in the BIOS updates offered by motherboard makers like Asus, ASRock, and Gigabyte Intel's 9th Gen Core series CPUs featuring the R0 stepping are expected to come out by Q2 2019   As integrated circuits often do, Intel’s upcoming 9th Gen Core series CPUs are about to receive a new “R0” stepping. For the uninitiated, a stepping is essentially a revision in the design of the CPU chip. As originally reported by Tom’s Hardware, motherboard manufacturers like Gigabyte, Asus, and ASRock have revealed this update in CPU design ahead of an official announcement from Intel by sending out BIOS updates to eligible  motherboards. The motherboards set to receive the BIOS updates are Asus, ASRock, and Gigabyte models augmenting Intel’s 300 series chipset. Asus and ASRock have simply announced in their respective news releases that the new BIOS updates are currently ready to be downloaded. Gigabyte, on the other hand, has gone out of its way and published the complete list of Intel CPU models that will receive the R0 stepping. Though many of Intel’s 9th Gen Core series CPUs are getting the “R0” stepping, some of them actually seem to be getting the “P0” stepping. At this point, it’s hard to say what the difference between the two steppings is or if it’s simply a typo. Prima facie the models with the R0 stepping seem to come with the same base clock speed, same amount of cache, and seem to be fabricated under the same 14-nanometre process node. Intel announced its 9th Gen Core series CPUs in October last year. At the top of the product range is the Intel 9th Gen Core i9-9900K CPU, which has 8 cores, 16 threads, and an Intel Turbo frequency of 5.0GHz. Intel’s 9th Gen Core series CPUs featuring the new R0 stepping are expected to enter the market sometime in the second quarter of this year. By then, we can expect Intel to make an official announcement about the new stepping. Inline image courtesy: Tom's Hardware   Related Read: Intel 9th Gen Core Series Processors announced https://ift.tt/2CMT5o5