intel chip support list

gypsycomp wrote: ASRock provides a cpu support list for their MBs.  After each cpu name is the nomelnclature (RO) or (SO). ASRock tech support was less than able to tell me what RO and SO mean. Does anyone here know what RO and SO mean? CPU list http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/H170%20Pro4/?cat=CPU

The R0 or S0 (that is '0', not 'O') are CPU Core Steppings.

Core Steppings are slightly different versions of a model of CPU, that the manufacture (Intel) releases during the production lifetime of a processor. A newer Core Stepping version of a processor will have fixes to small or unusual problems that the manufacture learns of during the life of a processor.

ASRock includes the Core Stepping information in the CPU Support list to indicate they have tested the new CPU Core Stepping version with a board and BIOS versions.

There is no need to worry about Core Stepping versions usually, since the change is very small. You'll see that Intel does not list separate Core Stepping versions of their processors in their processor information on the Internet.

Just dropped in to say, newer is not always better. A change in stepping can also often be optimization or removal of features that either generate heat or resulted in die failures at the manufacturing end. A new stepping may even be designed for cost effectiveness and be somewhat gimped.