E6300 1.86GHz

[xNIKx]

Intel® Core? 2 Duo E6300 1.86GHz 2MB Cache 1066MHz FSB

This si the processor im looking to get and i dont plan on upgrading it in a long time. So i have a few question and concerns.

1) How long will this processor be good until it is out dated.
2) Even once its outdated will it still be able to run games?
3) I dont really know how to ask this question but ill try, i currently have a pentium 4 2.66GHz, how much GHz would the E6300 in pentium 4 terms. I ask this because games seem to be requiring alot lately, for ex splinter cell double agents requires pentium 4 3.5GHz, would my e6300 be able to run this perfectly?

 

[harpoon84]

Depends if you overclock it or not. At stock speeds, the E6300 is a reasonable performer by todays standards but will become 'low end' in the coming 12 months. When comparing it to P4 clockspeeds, it does roughly double the work per clock. Meaning an E6300 is about equivalent to a 3.7GHz Pentium D. Quite decent but not mind blowing.

However, these chips have great overclocking potential and many have been pushed to 3GHz and beyond. At such speeds we are talking hypothetical '6GHz P4' levels of performance, for what it's worth.

 

[lyssword]

not to mention better multitasking cuz of dual core

 

[A554SS1N]

1) It's very hard to say, no one knows the future, but it could probably last 5 years for gaming if you gave it an OC too
2) Well, it has SSE4 I think, and is 64-bit compatible, so it'll have the features required for quite some time, again, it could depend on the individual game released - for example, a mate pushed his 5 year old 1.2Ghz Athlon to the limit running Doom 3, but Quake 4 (same engine) required SSE, which that CPU didn't have, so he couldn't run that. Features matter as much as speed
3) I reckon a P4/Pentium D Dual Core 4Ghz, maybe more.

 

[Skyguy]

You can easily hit 3.0 ghz on an E6300 with stock cooling, as long as you have some good overclockable memory. At 3.0 it simply destroys your P4. And since this is dual core, it runs through multitasking like a hot knife through butter.

As for gaming, most games are GPU limited, not CPU. And by the time that games which take advantage of multiple cores become mainstream, you'll have likely upgraded your system at that point.....and if not the whole system, then certainly the vid card.

Most people here are enthusiasts, so the 6300 seems "low end"....but for 98% of the population, an overclocked 6300 is like a Ferrari.

Remember, you can never futureproof your system, so get the best you can for the price (an overclocked 6300 is the best deal IMHO) and save some extra $$ for your next vid card.....it'll go out of style far far faster than your CPU