Wolfdale in 2012: Overclocking and tests of Intel Core 2 Duo E8400, E6300 and Phenom II X2 545

Intel processors are a rarity on our website. But this doesn't mean we prefer AMD. There are other reasons for this. You probably all know the prices of processors from this corporation. To put it mildly, they are not small. I cannot say that this is unjustified, as their architecture is head and shoulders above that of the competition. However, there are exceptions. I don't think anyone would prefer to buy, for example, a Pentium Dual Core E5400 instead of an Athlon II X2 250. Their frequency potential is roughly the same, around 4GHz, meaning the overpayment for a lower frequency and a more expensive motherboard is obvious. But this is the budget sector. At the top end, everything is completely different. Another example – who would want to buy a Phenom II X6 instead of a Core i5 2500K or Core i5 760? Yes, it has six real cores, but is it worth it? After all, in terms of performance per core, Intel processors currently have no equal!

We buy hardware with our own money or borrow it from friends. Few can afford to buy, for example, a Core 2 Quad Q9xxx, or a Core i7 2xxxK (it makes no sense to buy others, as AMD Phenom II is available for less money).

Very soon, our website will feature a review of the Core i5 2500 processor, with a locked multiplier. Yes, this is a downside, as overclocking will stop before it even begins. But does it really need it?

I got carried away. This review is dedicated to the Core 2 Duo E8400 processor, which, though not new, still seems relevant to me. Its low core count today doesn't provide the performance that current applications demand, but perhaps overclocking can rectify this situation?

Processor

It's time to move on to reviewing the test subject. Let's start by looking at its photo:

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The marking of the test sample is SLAPL, and it was manufactured in Malaysia. CPU-Z utility screenshot:

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Before us is one of the top-class representatives of the 45nm Wolfdale core. It is equipped with 6MB of L2 cache, nominal core voltage is 1.200V. Its stock frequency is 3GHz, achieved by multiplying the system bus (333MHz) by a multiplier of 9. The revision of our sample is C0, which, in principle, is not very encouraging. Typical heat dissipation is 65 watts.

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One of the most popular processors based on the 65nm Conroe core. Its drawback is a very low multiplier; overclocking to frequencies above 3GHz requires a motherboard that is not the weakest. The processor has 2MB of L2 cache, operates at a clock frequency of 1866MHz (266x7) at 1.300V, with a bus frequency of 1066MHz. The core revision is B2, typical heat dissipation is 65 watts.

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And the last player of today's match. Since Phenom II X2 545 was not available in the lab, I decided to disable two cores of the existing Phenom II X4 945 using the motherboard's BIOS, thereby obtaining the required processor without unnecessary problems. This was successfully done. As you may have noticed, the 'Cores' cell shows the number 2, confirming the successful disabling of two out of four cores. The processor is based on the 45nm Deneb C2 core, has 512KB of L2 cache per core and a total of 6MB of L3 cache. The nominal chip frequency is 3000MHz (200x15), the HT bus and CPU NB/L3 frequency is 2000MHz. Typical heat dissipation is 95 watts (for two cores).

Test Bench:

• AM3 Motherboard – ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO

• LGA775 Motherboard – Biostar P35D2-A7

• Processors – Core 2 Duo E8400, Core 2 Duo E6300, Phenom II X4 945 (two cores disabled)

• AM3 CPU Cooling – Cooler Master Susurro (RR-KCT-T9E1)

• LGA775 CPU Cooling – Zalman 7700cu

• RAM – 2GB Hynix PC6400 (5-5-5-16) - for testing and stable overclocking;

• RAM – 512Mb Hynix PC6400 (5-5-5-15) - for "frosty freshness"

• RAM – 2GB Corsair XMS3 PC10700 (9-9-9-34)

• Video Card – ASUS GeForce 9800GT@780/1900/2000MHz (GPU/SP/Mem)

• PSU – FSP 400W

• Hard Drive – Samsung SP160GB

Software:

• Windows 7 x64 SP1

• CPU-Z 1.57

• CineBench 9.5 x64

• CineBench 11.0 x64

• Light Work - Renderbench

• 3D Mark 2006 v1.2.0 (CPU test only)

• 3D Mark Vantage v1.1.1 (CPU test only)

• Hot CPU tester PRO

• NVIDIA ForceWare 260.99

• wPrime v1.55

• Fritz Chess Benchmark

• x264 Benchmark v4.0

• SuperPi 1.4

• PiFast

• FRAPS v3.1.0/build11052

Graphics quality settings in games:GTA4:

• Resolution – 1280x1024

• Textures – high

• Reflection Resolution – high

• Water Quality – very high

• Shadow Quality – high

• Filtering Quality – x16

• View Distance – 100

• Detail Depth – 100

• Traffic Density – 100

• Field of View Depth – on/on

• Vertical Synchronization – off/off

Prototype:

• Resolution – 1280x1024

• Textures – high

• Shadows – high

• Anti-aliasing – 0x

OverclockingKnowing the excellent overclocking potential of the 45nm Wolfdale, I set the system bus frequency to 450MHz without increasing voltage, which should have given me 4050MHz. The OS booted, but on the very first LinX run, it rebooted. Increasing the voltage to 1.350V allowed it to pass a 20-minute test, but then the same reboot occurred. Only at a voltage of 1.408V did the processor work in LinX for an hour without failures.

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Not much. The hottest core warmed up to 72 degrees. RAM frequency was 900MHz, with timings 5-5-5-15. It was decided to move the test bench to the balcony. Things immediately improved there:

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At a voltage of 1.456V, 4226MHz was achieved.

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1.504V opened the way to 4409MHz. By the way, stability was no longer in question. The test bench's 7700cu couldn't keep up with the increased heat of the E8400, even at 5 degrees Celsius outside.

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At this point, the processor started reacting poorly to increased voltage. 4630MHz at 1.664V. This is already unsafe. It is advisable not to raise the voltage above 1.550V without a liquid cooling system (LCS).

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That's it, at 4768MHz, my test subject hit a wall... most likely due to the cooling system. And the voltage had to be pushed to a threatening 1.744V. For a short time, such an overvoltage is generally safe, but it should not be abused. The crystal can degrade, and you might even lose stable 4GHz. Let's move on to overclocking the other test participants. The Core 2 Duo E6300 is based on the older 65nm Conroe core. Its stable overclocking is limited to 3600MHz, and in most cases, 3400MHz. For me, it turned out even worse:

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The RAM frequency was 960MHz with timings 5-5-5-15. The only benefit of such overclocking is the ability to compare it with an E8400 running at stock frequencies. Although, perhaps I'm just used to 45nm chips by now. After all, the E6300's frequency was increased by 80%! Overclocking the Phenom II X2 945 brought no surprises. At a voltage of 1.440V, stable operation at 3810MHz was achieved.

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The reason for such low overclocking is immediately apparent from the CPU-Z utility screenshot: an old C2 revision. The memory controller and L3 cache operated at 2540MHz, RAM at 1651MHz, with timings 9-9-9-24. Having dealt with overclocking, it's time to move on to studying processor performance.Rendering

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In test packages demonstrating processor performance in rendering, the Core 2 Duo E8400 took the lead, both at stock and overclocked speeds. The E6300 is an underdog, but once overclocked, it starts to overtake its opponents running at stock frequencies. Although the Phenom II X2 945 couldn't outperform its rival, considering its overclocking didn't reach 4000MHz, it's hard to call it a complete loss.

Overall Performance

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The first two test suites awarded first place to the E8400, with a significant lead, both at stock and overclocked speeds. The third test, named Hot CPU Tester PRO 4, favored the Phenom II X2, both at stock and overclocked speeds. The E6300 holds its own admirably, despite its small L2 cache; when overclocked, it even outperforms both the E8400 and Phenom X2 running at stock frequencies.

Calculations

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Chess move calculations are clearly better performed on Intel processors; the overclocked Phenom II X2 945 barely surpassed the E6300 and E8400.

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Intel processors have always calculated Pi faster than their competitors, and today's test, unfortunately, is no exception.

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However, wPrime brought a surprise: here, the Phenom II X2 945, running at its stock frequency, outperforms the E8400, also running at stock. Overclocking, of course, put everything back in its place; frequency played its role, and the E8400 was once again ahead.

Encoding

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Is video encoding to x264 format your strong suit? Then you won't go wrong if you buy a Phenom II X2; even an overclock to 4050MHz couldn't help the E8400 overtake its opponent running at 3810MHz.

Archiving

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If you frequently archive files, the Phenom II X2 will also be more interesting to you than the Core 2 Duo E8400.

Games: Synthetic

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Ah, how well it all started for Phenom. The Core 2 Duo E8400 showed total superiority, both at stock and overclocked speeds, with the gap widening even further in the latter mode.

Games

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As has long been known, games love large cache memory, and even better, one operating at high frequencies. However, this is not the case for the Phenom II X2 945; its L3 cache operates not at the core frequency, like with Core 2, but at the memory controller's frequency. And its frequency could not be increased beyond 2500MHz. As a result, it lost both at stock and overclocked speeds.

Conclusion

In its time, the Core 2 Duo E8xxx processor series made a lot of noise. Many records were broken thanks to them. They were repeatedly chosen by leading websites as "processors for gaming."

What do we have in the end? A score of 11:4, in favor of the Core 2 Duo E8400. This truly legendary processor has proven that its song is not yet sung, at least until the release of AMD Bulldozer and Intel Ivy Bridge.

P.S. The Core 2 Duo E6300 performed admirably throughout the test, and when overclocked, it repeatedly surpassed its rivals running at stock frequencies. Commendable for an aging processor.