ASUS P5B-E: P965 stepping C1 versus C2, Round One

Over the course of the past few months we have heard all sorts of rumors about the Intel P965 C2 stepping and its grandiose performance improvements over the current C1 stepping. There have been previews of its performance on engineering sample boards at various websites touting its overclocking capability along with perceived performance improvements. Our forums and others across the internet are full of questions about the performance of this stepping along with various interpretations of the first test results and the rampant rumors afterwards. These interpretations and rumors include everything from 20% overclocking improvements, memory compatibility fixes, lower power consumption, 10% performance improvements, and a whole host of other claims. Are these interpretations and rumors true or merely urban legends? We will find out in our testing today.