Core 2 Duo E4300 Benchmark - fresh and hot

[Xvys]

Here are the Intel price reductions in Q1 & Q2 2007 (mil rate):

Q6600 - 2.40/1066Mhz - 8MB cache - $851 - $530
E6700 - 2.66/1066Mhz - 4MB cache - $530 - $316
E6600 - 2.40/1066Mhz - 4MB cache - $316 - $224
E6400 - 2.13/1066Mhz - 2MB cache - $224 - xxxx
E6420 - 2.13/1066Mhz - 4MB cache - xxxx - $183
E6300 - 1.83/1066Mhz - 2MB cache - $183 - xxxx
E6320 - 1.83/1066Mhz - 4MB cache - xxxx - $163
E4400 - 2.00/800Mhz - 2MB cache - xxxx - $133
E4300 - 1.80/800Mhz - 2MB cache - $163 - $113

By Q2 it will be a tough call about which CPU to purchase. The E4300 looks inviting at $113, but the E4400 (10x multi) is only $20 more...Or spend another $30 and get the 4MB cache E6320? Or how about a full-fledged E6600 for $224?? Intel will also be releasing their budget E2000 series of single-core processers soon, plus the new 1333FSB higher-end models.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Originally posted by: Avalon

I tend to find that this situation happens when a new product is being released. All the lesser known sites are charging a high pre-order price for it, but once the regular etailers get them up, the price is much more reasonable. I'm going to ask Ben @ TG what he can get them for.

True dat. There must be more enthusiasm over the E4300 out there than I suspected. Based on Xvys' post, however, Intel will be releasing a number of interesting products this year . . . I'm not sure the E4300 would be at the top of my list. The E6320 certainly does sound interesting for those who care to wait until the second quarter.

 

[Avalon]

Yeah, the E6320 and E6420 look very good for the price. I might consider getting an E4300 first, and then "upgrading" to one of those for a few extra bucks later on down the road.

 

[n7]

E6320/E6420 are what i want...

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Avalon
I'm not expecting these to overclock farther than current Core 2 Duo processors, but I am expecting them to reach similar clocks without requiring a massively high FSB for $150-$160.

That's what I'm thinking, no need for uber expensive mobo/RAM.

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
I happen to think they these are E6300s that failed every test and then were dropped to lower FSB and worked under whatever conditions Intel places on them. After that they are labeled E4300 and marketed as a lower end part. They may need more voltage, and produce more heat, and also as I mentioned could have a IHS that is not perfectly flat.

FUD.

Originally posted by: Xvys
Here are the Intel price reductions in Q1 & Q2 2007 (mil rate):

E6420 - 2.13/1066Mhz - 4MB cache - xxxx - $183
E6320 - 1.83/1066Mhz - 4MB cache - xxxx - $163
E4400 - 2.00/800Mhz - 2MB cache - xxxx - $133
E4300 - 1.80/800Mhz - 2MB cache - $163 - $113

By Q2 it will be a tough call about which CPU to purchase. The E4300 looks inviting at $113, but the E4400 (10x multi) is only $20 more...Or spend another $30 and get the 4MB cache E6320? Or how about a full-fledged E6600 for $224?? Intel will also be releasing their budget E2000 series of single-core processers soon, plus the new 1333FSB higher-end models.

The 1333FSB is of no interest to me, except for mobos that can do that. I was so focused on the E4X00 series that I wasn't aware of the E6X20 series. Hmmm, tough choice indeed. I think for myself it will come down to motherboards/RAM, as in sure, a couple bucks extra for CPU, but if mobo/RAM pricing to take those to limits becomes excessive, then stick with the budget stuff.

I thought that the single core versions were stillborn?

 

[Xvys]

I believe the single-cores are still on-stream, although I don't know how much lower they can go on prices ($85?), especially with the budget Celeron's even undercutting the base single-core prices ($65?).

 

[DrMrLordX]

I would think they'd avoid Core 2 Solo chips so long as they have any Netburst-based CPUs left to sell on the desktop market.

 

[Zap]

Hmmm, perhaps the single core ones will be the Celerons after Netburst? That would be interesting, especially at $50 with a low FSB.

 

[Avalon]

Ok, I got a response back from Ben, and he says he's getting E4300's listed on his site soon for $199. Doesn't know when they'll be available, though, but according to many sites, it looks like the first week of Feb. So, it looks like the $190ish range we're seeing on froogle for the pre-orders are indeed correct. This kind of sucks, I was really expecting it to be closer to the MSRP of $163, perhaps around $175. Oh well. The Disty's must be asking for a higher than normal price, probably in expectation of high demand. We'll see how it pans out when it actually hits the stores.

 

[Kromis]

Okay so uhh...let's recap a bit...

Buy a C2D now or wait for the E4xx?

 

[DrMrLordX]

It's all a matter of the motherboard and RAM you plan on using along with it. Based on what Avalon has said, we should expect inflated prices (~$190-$200) on the E4300 until etailers bring their prices down closer to MSRP, and there's no guarentee of that ever happening (that high multiplier on the E4300 is bound to attract buyers).

If you have a board that can hit high FSBs and plan on getting RAM that can do DDR2-1000 or better, there may not be much point to the E4300. However, if you have/are getting a board that has trouble getting past 400 mhz FSB and want to go cheap(er) on the RAM, you might wind up saving money by buying the E4300 . . . depending on which board you get. Some of those 975x boards out there really don't go high in the FSB department but still cost a pretty penny.

All things considered, if you're going to go for an S3 or maybe a 650i-based board, you'll probably save money getting the E4300 even at inflated prices. You can safely invest in RAM that won't break DDR2-800. Just keep in mind that an E6300 running at the same clock speed as an E4300 with a lower multi and higher FSB will outperform the E4300.

 

[NoobyDoo]

There's a ( highly speculative ) article here comparing the performances of the current and still-to-be-released C2Ds.

The E4300 and E4400 are the new light weight kings and with a suggested retail value of $110 and $130 in the second quarter of next year, they are also very affordable. Also due to the limited 800MHz FSB, these processors should work with a much broader range of chipsets. That said, featuring just 2MB of L2 cache and the 800MHz FSB support, both the E4300 and E4400 delivered very respectable performance.

... the upcoming E6320 and E6420 do not really appear as though they are going to change much here. The extra 2MB L2 cache is a handy feature, though gamers will not greatly benefit from it.

... etc.

 

[NoobyDoo]

There's a preview of e4300 here : Cheaper Core Micro-Architecture: Core 2 Duo E4300 CPU Review

E4300 compared to :
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (Socket AM2, 2.2GHz, 2x512KB L2 cache)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 (LGA775, 1.86GHz, 1067MHz FSB, 2MB L2 cache)
Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 (LGA775, 2.93GHz, 1067MHz FSB, 4MB L2 cache)
Intel Pentium D 945 (LGA775, 3.4GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2x2MB L2 cache)

... on an ASUS P5B Deluxe mainboard ... Using its latest version 0804 BIOS, this mainboard didn't have any problems with the new CPU ... cooled with a Zalman CMPS9500 LED cooler. We also set the memory frequency in sync with the FSB ...

... without increasing the core voltage, which was 1.325V by default. Under such conditions, our Core 2 Duo E4300 could work at 2.97MHz - the FSB frequency had been increased to 330MHz ...
... we increased the CPU voltage to 1.6V ... we increased the FSB frequency to 380MHz and the resulting CPU frequency grew to 3.42GHz ... at 3.42GHz, it is 10-15% faster than the Core 2 Duo Extreme X6800 despite having half the amount of cache memory!

... this doesn't look that impressive if compared with what Conroe-based CPUs show at overclocking because Core 2 Duo E6000 CPUs can conquer somewhat higher frequencies ...