Getting the most out of an E6600

[doodler85]

Hey guys,

I plan to buy a Core 2 Duo system in the near future, and after a lot of research, the E6600 or E6400 seem like the best value. However, I am open to the idea of some very conservative, stable overclocking to make the best of these processors. Unless I'm mistaken, without additional cooling technology, I could probably get them 20% faster, right?

I'm in the multimedia field, so I'm going to need my system to stay stable for really CPU-stressful tasks. I'm also a gamer, so I'd rather not have it explode there, either.

Anyway, if you guys can share any thoughts on how far I can OC this thing without ANY worry of failure (I just want value, not bragging rights), that'd be awesome.

Thanks,!

 

[gobucks]

you can probably get more than that out of it - i got 3.0GHz with my e6400 on stock voltage, which is 41% over spec. with a little extra juice i'm confident i can get it to 3.3-3.4GHz, but i'm waiting for better OCing memory to try it. I'd say your chip should be completely safe even with stock cooling if you don't up the vcore. after all, the x6800 runs at 2.93GHz with the same cooling and voltage. you can probably even bump up the vcore to, say, 1.4V without too much worry, but if you wanna stay conservative, just leave the vcore alone, keep bumping up the FSB until it gets unstable, then back off a few MHz.

 

[harpoon84]

If you're after the best bang for buck then go the E6400.

A 'conservative' overclock is generally termed as one where you don't raise the core voltage. With the E6400, I'd say 3GHz is a reasonable 'conservative' aim, as most C2Ds can reach such speeds at stock volts as gobucks above me can attest to.

If you don't want any worry of failure then just stress test the overclock using programs like StressPrime 2004 or OCCT for 12 hours or so (24 hours if you're really anal...).

 

[doodler85]

Does the L2 cache difference between Conroe and Allensdale really matter? That's the only reason I chose the 6600 over the 6400...

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: doodler85
Does the L2 cache difference between Conroe and Allensdale really matter? That's the only reason I chose the 6600 over the 6400...

It does make a performance difference, in some apps more than others. Just as AMD's X2 chips with 1MB x 2 are a bit faster than the 512KBx2 varieties.

The main advantage to the 6600 is the higher multiplier, meaning you can reach higher speeds without cranking the FSB up as high as you'd have to with the 6300/6400. As well, the 6600 is faster at stock speed, out of the box, than AMD's best.

So really it comes down to $$$. For me personally, the 6600 is worth the extra cash. For others it might not be.

 

[doodler85]

Is there some determining factor as to what more cache would be good for?

I spend most of my time doing Photoshop/Flash with occasional video editing, and I always have like 10 programs open at the same time. If it has an impact on multitasking (although I imagine RAM is more important for that matter), I'd be willing to pay the difference.

Thanks for your help so far guys, I really appreciate it.

 

[harpoon84]

Originally posted by: doodler85
Is there some determining factor as to what more cache would be good for?

I spend most of my time doing Photoshop/Flash with occasional video editing, and I always have like 10 programs open at the same time. If it has an impact on multitasking (although I imagine RAM is more important for that matter), I'd be willing to pay the difference.

Thanks for your help so far guys, I really appreciate it.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2795&p=4

It's not a huge difference by any means, an average of 3.5% isn't exactly earth shattering.

I personally think it's not worth the extra cash if you care about price/performance, especially considering E6400s and E6600s are hitting similar clockspeeds.

Is a 3.5% performance increase worth an extra $100 to you?

Pabster, what you say applies to E6300 mostly, but the E6400 multiplier is actually perfect for most overclockers.

450FSB (easily attainable on DS3) = 3.6GHz.

 

[thilanliyan]

Originally posted by: doodler85
Is there some determining factor as to what more cache would be good for?

I spend most of my time doing Photoshop/Flash with occasional video editing, and I always have like 10 programs open at the same time. If it has an impact on multitasking (although I imagine RAM is more important for that matter), I'd be willing to pay the difference.

Thanks for your help so far guys, I really appreciate it.

According to the Anandtech review linked above, video encoding gained about 9-10% and that's a lot, so you might wanna get the 6600.

 

[doodler85]

Hmm. Tricky.

I won't be ordering for about a month from now, so hopefully the price gap will decrease to MSRP by that time. $100 ain't bad, but most manufacturers/outlets have a price difference of at least $150, 170.

You guys are probably going to hate me for this, but I'm probably going to buy a system instead of building it. I just don't trust myself with making a system that costs more than $1000

So far...

INTEL BOXD975XBXLKR 975X 775
Core 2 Duo E6600
Radeon 1900 XTX
2 GB Corsair XMS2
2x Seagate SATA 320 GB (Raid 0)

... and I'm debating on an X-Fi card.

Total cost: ~$2000.

I thought that sounded reasonable. If you can convince me otherwise I might just build this sucker.

Thanks again guys!

 

[harpoon84]

Originally posted by: doodler85
Hmm. Tricky.

I won't be ordering for about a month from now, so hopefully the price gap will decrease to MSRP by that time. $100 ain't bad, but most manufacturers/outlets have a price difference of at least $150, 170.

You guys are probably going to hate me for this, but I'm probably going to buy a system instead of building it. I just don't trust myself with making a system that costs more than $1000

So far...

INTEL BOXD975XBXLKR 975X 775
Core 2 Duo E6600
Radeon 1900 XTX
2 GB Corsair XMS2
2x Seagate SATA 320 GB (Raid 0)

... and I'm debating on an X-Fi card.

Total cost: ~$2000.

I thought that sounded reasonable. If you can convince me otherwise I might just build this sucker.

Thanks again guys!

Build it yourself, it's a lot more satisfying.