Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 & E6400: Tremendous Value Through Overclocking
by Anand Lal Shimpi on July 26, 2006 8:17 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Over a week has passed since our Core 2 Extreme & Core 2 Duo review and although the dust is finally starting to settle, not all questions have been answered. We're still hard at work on investigating issues like 64-bit performance and comparing performance per Watt across more applications, but today we're here with another piece of the puzzle: a look at the Core 2 Duo E6300 and E6400.
The E6300 and E6400 are particularly attractive members of the Core 2 family because of their fairly low cost; unfortunately their performance isn't as easy to predict because they are currently the only two Core 2 processors that don't have a 4MB L2 cache. We already illustrated in our earlier review that the larger L2 cache found in the E6600 and above is good for up to 10% of a performance boost depending on the application, but the fact of the matter is that the cheapest 4MB Core 2 Duo is $316 while you can have the E6300 and E6400 for $183 and $224 respectively.
In addition to the question of performance, there's also the issue of overclockability. We've already seen that the high end Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme CPUs are fairly overclockable, thanks in no small part to Intel's 65nm manufacturing process, but what about at the low end? Can you take a $183 Core 2 Duo E6300 and through overclocking achieve performance similar to the more expensive E6600 or even the almighty X6800? It's been a while since we've even wanted to overclock an Intel CPU in order to get better performance. In the past we'd simply recommend buying AMD, but with Core 2 Duo the overclocking prospects are too intriguing to ignore.
New Pricing
AMD hasn't been sitting idle; this week its extremely aggressive price cuts go into effect, making the Athlon 64 X2 a more affordable CPU in many cases compared to Intel's Core 2 processors. AMD also announced its intentions to acquire ATI Technologies, but we'll save that discussion for a forthcoming article.
The new pricing structure can be seen below:
| CPU | Clock Speed | L2 Cache | Price |
| Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 | 2.93GHz | 4MB | $999 |
| Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 | 2.66GHz | 4MB | $530 |
| Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 | 2.40GHz | 4MB | $316 |
| AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ | 2.6GHz | 512KBx2 | $301 |
| AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ | 2.4GHz | 512KBx2 | $240 |
| Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 | 2.13GHz | 2MB | $224 |
| AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ | 2.2GHz | 512KBx2 | $187 |
| Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 | 1.86GHz | 2MB | $183 |
| Intel Pentium D 945 | 3.40GHz | 2MBx2 | $163 |
| AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ | 2.0GHz | 512KBx2 | $152 |
| Intel Pentium D 915 | 2.80GHz | 2MBx2 | $133 |
| Intel Pentium D 820 | 2.80GHz | 1MBx2 | $113 |
| Intel Pentium D 805 | 2.66GHz | 1MBx2 | $93 |
The Athlon 64 X2 5000+ is now cheaper than the Core 2 Duo E6600, which was really necessary considering that the E6600 is faster than the Athlon 64 FX-62 across the board. If the E6600's street price ends up being significantly higher than the table's suggested $316, the 5000+ (assuming its street price is not also inflated by demand) will be a nice alternative.
The E6400 is now more expensive than the X2 4200+, a comparison that we will be able to look at in-depth today to determine a winner at the low $180 - $230 price range.
And finally we have the E6300, which now is a more expensive competitor to our long-time favorite: the Athlon 64 X2 3800+. Today we'll find out for sure if the E6300 will be the low-cost dual core CPU to have.
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goinginstyle - Friday, July 28, 2006 - link
Dear OC-Sharikou,Do you not read any of the various articles on the internet and at this site. Everyone stated NV is releasing Intel SLI (Conroe) capable motherboards in August. Several sites have stated the 570SLI will sell between $90 to $120. Since the ATI chipset boards will be out in September or so I guess that means ATI/AMD is coming to Intels rescue also. LOL
Those boards are shipping next month. They will cost $90 to $200 at the high end. K8L might be introduced a year from now and what makes you think Intel will not have responded by then. Both companies are back into a true competition and this is not good, why?
That is just for the CPUs, does not include the board cost at all which is shaping up to be $300 or more according to a couple of Asian websites. I sure hope it will be faster than a E6700.
Your calculations are WRONG again, try $140 for a Gigabyte DS3, $226 for E6300, and an easy 450FSB. The prices will continue to drop over the next couple of months.
Not arguing that AMD does not have an excellent solution, they do and it is all I own currently, but to continue spreading your lies is just wrong.
goinginstyle - Thursday, July 27, 2006 - link
Dear OC-Sharikou,Your lies are just getting worse by the day. Maybe mom should change your diaper more often as the sh!$ you spewing is getting heavier by the day.
Those stories over at the INQwerewrongUIER are false. ATI publicly stated they are shipping Intel based boards. The new RD series will be here in a couple of months. How does it feel knowing that Intel's purchases from ATI account for the majority of their channel sales? AMD is going to rely on this revenue stream to help pay off the debt. HaHa.
That is funny, just read a review of the first SLI Conroe boards here at this website twice already. NV launches their SLI series in a week or so. Pricing is already showing up at the distributors. Yet another lie from you.
False again. You will be able to do this in about a week with the NV SLI Intel boards. Already been posted here and elsewhere that the 570SLI will be around $90.
LOL.... What do you really expect will happen? Overclocked AMD versus overclocked Conroe still equals the same results. Does it mean I will rush out and replace my 4800+? The answer is no at this time but I do plan on going Conroe this fall. I really want to know what your infamous calculations show today? 6%+3%=11% = OC-Sharikou is still a jerk who got fired from Intel....
OcHungry - Friday, July 28, 2006 - link
The pattern never changes and I should not expect civilized and logical answer/reply from most of Intel fans.There is no such thing as a $90 SLI intel motherboard. If there is please post the link.
Going by AT's Motherboard article, the only SLI motherboard listed is "Asus P5N32-SLI SE" which costs ~ $205. But unfortunately the FSB can only overclock to 318mhz.
The E6300 is a 7x multiplier which means : 7x 318=2226mhz final speed.
There are places in the net that sell E6300 in back for $220, I agree, but considering the cheapest conroe mobo/CPU to be $425, and only able to OC to 2.3ghz, I don’t see it as attractive as an AM2 x2 setup. Today you can buy A64 3800 x2 for $153 and a good http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">SLI Mobo for less than $110. Add http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">2-GF 7600GS, you will have a very nice SLI gaming system for less than $450 (CPU+Vid Card+Mobo). The E6300/mobo will cost that much without 2 vid cards, and can only OC to 2.3ghz (according to AT's motherboard OC graph). Unlike what Mr. Anand believes, the 3800 x2 AM2 can overclock to 3ghz, (per forum members who have bought, and most of review sites). I see AM2 system a much wiser upgrade for those in budget and are concerned with price/performance.
wilki24 - Thursday, July 27, 2006 - link
"E6300 are gouged to $295 (mwave.com) and a $250 mobo to be able to overclock the way AT is suggesting. "And ZZF has it for $195, free shipping. A whopping $12 over the price listed in the article. Oh my, the price gouging. $12!!! However am I going to feed myself the rest of the month!
And how many times do people have to say it before you get it through your thick skull: The cheaper motherboards will be available in a couple of weeks!
I'm all for free speech, but this guy is a major troll who does nothing to foster intelligent commentary. Please remove him.
mkruer - Thursday, July 27, 2006 - link
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTE...">http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTE...So Anand if you read this, I challenge you to bench a real world game, and use the maximum setting for the video card not the most basic.
Is the Conroe faster, Yes!
Is it substantially faster playing games with resolution and settings normal people would run their games at… Probably not!
The moral of this story is if you want better game play, buy a better video card, that is unless you like to play are your games at 640x480 with all the details turn off.
goinginstyle - Thursday, July 27, 2006 - link
Dear Kyle,What do you consider a real world game? Are the games in the article not real world? By the way, any reason why you refused to test CPU bound games that Anand and others have tested.
The settings you use at {T}ardOCP might very well represent 1% of the gaming population. How many "real" world gamers use 1600x1200 8xAA/16xAF settings with a single video card and are happy with 90% of their gaming experience being played under 30FPS. Really, is that "real world" gaming?
The moral of this story is that you need to get off AMD's payroll and realize that Intel has produced a very good processor series that out performs AMD. It took forever this time and it might not last long but you have to give them credit. Oh, based on your logic a $42 Celeron D is going to perform the same as AMD FX62. If that is the case why did anyone buy the Athlon 64 when the P4 was just as good.
mkruer - Thursday, July 27, 2006 - link
Actually real world would be system defaults, or what ever the game thinks the system should run with. If you have ever play a game you would realize that almost all game setting a set by what the video card can support not by the CPU. Now you may tweak it to get your 300FPS on your 15 monitor that only has a 60 hertz refresh. But most people leave the default setting unless they experience some massive issues with the game play.Conroe thoroughly trashes AMD in more or less everything but the point remains that you are better off spending your money on a $500 video card then the Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800, and just stick with the next knock down i.e. Intel Core 2 Duo E6700
redbone75 - Thursday, July 27, 2006 - link
I read Kyle's article the day it was posted and was actually taken aback by the overall tone of it. He's supposed to be taking these "real world" approaches to evaluating component performance for gaming, but how many people in the real world drop $1k plus on a processor for gaming? He only mentions the price difference between the two Intel chips, NOT the Intel chips versus the AMD chip. His overall message seemed to be "Don't believe the hype about Core 2 Duo" than anything else. Tell me this, did you once see anywhere in the article Kyle mentioning that the E6700 held its own against AMD's big gun and costs less than half the price? No, you didn't, because he never mentioned it. That he doesn't mention it doesn't necessarily mean he's pro-AMD or whatever, but to not praise the accomplishment makes you speculate just a bit. Heck, even the E6600 beats out the FX-62 in nearly every test, and it costs less than $400!Also, what's good for the goose isn't necessarily good for the gander. Different gamers have different tastes. Some might sacrifice a little AA or aniso in order to game at different settings. Kyles whole approach, while certainly admirable, is not the end all, be all to gaming evaluation.
Bottom line, Intel has done an incredible job with Core 2 Duo. Gaming or otherwise, it's got it all, and don't even talk about the performance potential for overclocking.
mkruer - Thursday, July 27, 2006 - link
True, I am somewhat disappointed that he didn’t bench down to the more midrange prices (say the 4200+ 4600+) but I suspect that even those would be powerfully enough to keep the performance within 10% of the maximum, and as I posted later in the thread. Game benching should be run with system defaults. I find the whole logic of using a game to bench how powerful a CPU is fundamentally flawed. Games in general tend to be GPU bound, and if you are going to classify a price point you need to consider the cost of the entire system. I just might be that the $1000 system you put together is 95% completive with a $5000 system.KayKay - Wednesday, July 26, 2006 - link
I was anticipating getting over 3 Ghz on these chips after recently seeing in the core 2 duo buyer's guide a few articles ago. There is no doubt the performance is stellar on these chips, and who knows maybe there is a good stepping out there (or coming soon) that will yield better results than what weve seen here.Good review though, please continue to do reviews involving "value overclocking" in the future