Overclocking: e8400 vs e8500 vs e8600

[TidusZ]

I'm in a predicament here - I just ordered a gtx 280 and power supply, and I'm in the market for a processor/mobo/ram etc, and I'm looking at the penryn dual cores as being the best value for what I do - Gaming.

I am an overclocker, I'm gonna do air cooling, thermalright true 120 and coolermaster haf 932. The thing is, I see people overclocking the e8600 up to 4.7ghz and beyond in extreme cases and e8400's to 4.3ish, but I don't know what to really expect for air cooling top average overclocks. The price difference is pretty big,
e8400 = $200 cdn
e8500 = $255 cdn
e8600 = $385

Is it worth it? It seems most e8400's are guaranteed 4ghz at a safe voltage, what could I expect to get for twice the price? 300 more mhz? 400?

 

[Rabbits]

Honestly no, theres a reason why the 8400 is amazing for it's price.

 

[DSF]

Don't bother with an E8600.

 

[TC91]

e8500 maybe, e8600 definitely not

 

[TidusZ]

So I think for the price the 8600 is out of the question and I'm looking at the 8400 and 8500 now. The prices aren't that far apart, so does the 8500 actually overclock better or is it the same chip and intel decided to call one 8500 to make more money. What are the avg overclocks? I realize this is a tough question to ask, I doubt any of you are busy buying thousands of these and overclocking them in order to give me a good answer, but I imagine some of you have gained some insight, and that's what I'm looking for.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: TidusZ
So I think for the price the 8600 is out of the question and I'm looking at the 8400 and 8500 now. The prices aren't that far apart, so does the 8500 actually overclock better or is is the same chip and intel decided to call one 8500 to make more money. What are the avg overclocks? I realize this is a tough question to ask, I doubt any of you are busy buying thousands of these and overclocking them in order to give me a good answer, but I imagine some of you have gained some insight, and that's what I'm looking for.

Why would you spend $55 more for stock speed that you won't even notice??? Get the E8400. It overclocks well and is fast at stock speeds. The only reason some people got the E8500 was cus of a combo deal Newegg had with an EVGA mobo. No reason to spend the extra $$$ for it.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I just got my E8400 in this week. I haven't gotten deep into overclocking it yet, but I did a quick, dirty, and ridiculously easy OC to 3.6 ghz with the stock cooler and all stock voltages. I know that's nowhere near what some others are getting, but I didn't stop because it got unstable. I haven't failed to post, bsoded, or seen any other sign that I'm even approaching the limits of the chip. It's just so much faster than my old 939 X2 4200+ that I'm not sure I even need to overclock it any more until I get a graphics card that can keep up with it. I may do some more tweaking in a bit and get back to you.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

The only reason to get an e8600 is to be assured of the new stepping. But if you're simply trying to reach 4ghz, the e8400 @ current stepping seems to be sufficient

 

[Dadofamunky]

All three should get you to 4 easy. But the 8400 is the best deal for the same result. I got the E8600 because it was the only way at the time to be certain of getting the new stepping.

 

[TidusZ]

What about for 4.2 or 4.3? I'm willing to put the voltage into the low 1.4's and I'd rather 4.4 than 4.0.

 

[brencat]

Originally posted by: TidusZ
What about for 4.2 or 4.3? I'm willing to put the voltage into the low 1.4's and I'd rather 4.4 than 4.0.

The difference between 4.4 and 4.0 is just an e-peen contest, TBH. Do you have a gfx card like a GTX 280 or sli'd setup that would harness that extra 400mhz? If not, don't bother stressing the chip with 1.4+ vcore. The E8400 is blazing fast at 3.6ghz and would be terrific at 4.0. I can attest to this since I build a rig for my brother with this chip 2 mos ago and OCd to 3.6ghz on basically stock volts (1.20v). Ridiculously easy.

 

[TidusZ]

yes, I have a gtx 280 which I plan to overclock as much as possible as well, BFG gtx 280 OC. If an e8400 can only get around 4ghz while an e8500 typically gets 4.2 or 4.3 that'd be enough for me to spend 50 dollars more, I just don't know if that's the case or not.

 

[Phew]

All E0 stepping E8x00s will get you 4.0 GHz no sweat, often 4.4 GHz with good cooling. The only reason to pay extra for the E8600 now is if you have phase change cooling or something and are going for a 5+ GHz overclock, since at that point you will be limited by the FSB that your motherboard can handle.

 

[TidusZ]

Originally posted by: Phew
All E0 stepping E8x00s will get you 4.0 GHz no sweat, often 4.4 GHz with good cooling. The only reason to pay extra for the E8600 now is if you have phase change cooling or something and are going for a 5+ GHz overclock, since at that point you will be limited by the FSB that your motherboard can handle.

Thanks a lot. I'm gonna order next week, will probably consider e8400 vs q9550 and play it out in my head a few times before deciding, though I'm currently leaning toward e8400 definitely.

 

[Concillian]

I know someone who bought an e8400 like 3 weeks ago from newegg and did not get e0 stepping. Nothing's guaranteed on an e8400. That said, even the lesser steppings do quite well.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Originally posted by: Concillian
I know someone who bought an e8400 like 3 weeks ago from newegg and did not get e0 stepping. Nothing's guaranteed on an e8400. That said, even the lesser steppings do quite well.

I bought mine from newegg last sunday and it's an E0. I'd say chances are good if you order from newegg right now.

 

[taltamir]

if you are swimming in money but DON'T want to spend 1000+$ on an unlocked multiplier intel. and you have to have the greatest two core overclock for a machine geared for specific games (because two cores oc better than 4 cores), then the E8600 is ideal for you... which is why it costs so much money.
For the vast majority of people though there is no reason to pay that much extra for that little.

 

[TC91]

hmm actually TidusZ, what cpu are you using right now? You could consider the q6600 as an option as well

 

[TidusZ]

My current rig is an E4300 @3.15 w/ TRUE black cooler, 4x1gb ddr2-800, gigabyte p35-ds3r, 8800 GT decent overclock w/ accelero s1 cooler, 500w silverstone p/s

I already have a BFG gtx 280 OC, Coolermaster HAF 932 and corsair tx750w p/s in the mail, so just buying cpu/cooler/mobo/ram, a hdd and maybe dvd drive. Plan is to use very little from current pc and have two decent pcs, my current one will be 2nd pc.

Edit: my current 2nd pc is an athlon xp @2.25ghz, 6800GT. Its basically a dota box, not so hot with newer games.

 

[poohbear]

Originally posted by: Phew
All E0 stepping E8x00s will get you 4.0 GHz no sweat, often 4.4 GHz with good cooling.

how common are these steppings on the 8400s? Are they only found on newer ones and are they expected to become mainstream?

Also, would the 750i SLI mobos be able to overclock an 8400 to 4.0ghz+? i plan on going SLI so i can't get any of the intel chipsets.

 

[JustStarting]

For the few dollars extra I'd go with the E8500 just for the higher multiplier. You will not have to push your mobo/RAM to high FSB as much as with a E8400 to get the same OC.

just my 2 cents...

My E8500 is sitting pretty at 4.1ghz running 24/7

 

[TC91]

since you already have the e4300, i think it is probably best to get a quad core cpu (q6600 is still a great option since q9550 is so expensive up here in canada) since imho games are going to use them soon, gta IV would be a great example. Unless you are planning to upgrade again within a year or less...

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: Phew
All E0 stepping E8x00s will get you 4.0 GHz no sweat, often 4.4 GHz with good cooling. The only reason to pay extra for the E8600 now is if you have phase change cooling or something and are going for a 5+ GHz overclock, since at that point you will be limited by the FSB that your motherboard can handle.

Bingo.

Though personally, i'd recommend a quad, even a cheaper one like the Q6600 over a dual these days...

 

[TidusZ]

will see how saucy I'm feeling when I order later this week. I ordered a gtx 280 the other day outta nowhere.

Also, does anyone have benchmarks of a wolfdale vs a q9xxx, preferably with both of them overclocked to some extent? I would <3 thee for all of eternity. My main concern is that I'm paying ~$200 CDN more for ~300mhz less (E8400 @4.1 or Q9550 @3.8), and if the wolfdale is gonna be significantly faster for most stuff that doesn't utilize 4 cores then that would sway into my decision.

 

[Tempered81]

Originally posted by: TidusZ

Also, does anyone have benchmarks of a wolfdale vs a q9xxx, preferably with both of them overclocked to some extent? .

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articl...uad-q9300_9.html#sect0