Wanted to write this because some people say if you have a cpu along the lines of an e6600 that an e8400 upgrade isn't worth it. I disagree, especially if you like to OC (and I'm sure you do!). But how much it will help gaming depends on your gpu, among other things.
The e8400 was not a no brainer buy to me, but I did want a little more "umph" to go along with my GTX 280 SCC. Wasn't sure if my e6600 was going to cut it, even though it is OC'ed 2.4 ~ 3.2ghz. I've had that nice running overclock for a long time just with maybe slightly above average air cooling.
The e8400 runs at 3.0ghz by default, but of course it wasn't going to stay that way! Even if I didn't reach the .8ghz OC like on the e6600, I figured I would be happy with .6 or .7 OC, espeially considering that the 45nm & 6mb L2 cache also sweeten the deal.
As usual, before I installed it yesterday, I ran some final benchmarks, 3Dmark06, on my e6600. Cpu score right around 2700, most I've seen is 2750 on a fresh os install (vista).
In comes the e8400. The big test, could I get that .6ghz+ OC that would really justify this purchase by at least gaining the proper clock speed difference as if I didn't OC the e6600 or this e8400 (which is 2.4ghz to 3.0ghz, .6ghz being the difference)?
Well, as it turns out, much to my enjoyment, the e8400 was willing to OC far & beyond what I even wanted to go. In fact, turns out that my RAM was limiting my OC here & not the cpu.
Allow me to explain. I have 4gb of Mushkin EM DDR2-800 with nice, tightened timings. Default SPD is 5-5-5-18. I've been running 4-4-4-12 for the longest time, even with my .8ghz OC on the e6600! Only a notch bumped up on RAM voltage! Also, RAM was running at full DDR2-800 since I knocked down the multiplier on the e6600 & ran 3.2ghz @ 400 FSB.
Pretty cool to be able to run @ 1600 FSB while my value brand (although good brand name) RAM is running 4-4-4-12. That just doesn't happen for everybody that often.
That said, I did have some concerns with my only having DDR2-800 and the e8400 having the default 1333 FSB (the e6600 default was 1066).
So I kinda knew beforehand that my RAM might limit my e8400 OC potential unless I loosened timings.
However, that wasn't really the case. I actually managed a stable OC(tested with prime95, 2 threads) @ 3.71ghz while still keeping my RAM timings tightened at 4-4-4-12!!! On top of that my RAM is truly OC'ed as well, running @ DDR2-824, beyond 800 spec with my FSB being 412.
I gotta say, with those ram timings, I just might keep the 3.71ghz OC. Which, btw, is at stock vcore. So the only voltage bumps were a bit on the RAM, one notch on the MCH. Thats it!
That said, I guess I technically didn't quite achieve that .8ghz OC, but came close enough. However, I know the cpu would very likely OC to 3.8ghz & beyond if I loosened RAM timings. So I really couldn't be happier with the cpu and the overall OC, & since not raising the vcore at all, I still have amazing temps.
Lastly here, lets get to some results. As I said, my e6600 @ 3.2ghz (.8ghz OC) scored 2700 cpu on 3Dmark06. My e8400, with the exact same specs, including the tightened ram timings, @ 3.71ghz (.71ghz OC) scored just a notch under 3400! And I'm also probably due for a fresh OS install again.
Thus, if I weren't so stubborn about my ram timings & lossened them, I'm sure the score would be well over 3400 if I wanted to hit 3.8ghz+ (which I can if I want).
Don't have specific gaming benchmarks, but I can say that in the games I've tried, the e8400 is certainly making its difference felt. & a 700 point difference in 3Dmark.
In conclusion I guess I would say that if you are getting one of the new or upcoming powerhouse gpu's, an e8400 is a nice option to team up with the gpu (in my case the GTX 280), and I got mine at the egg, just $189.
And now I also have an e6600 with only about 7 months usage on it which I know I can sell and get back quite a bit of that $189. Not a bad deal.
However, if your gpu is a bit older or closer to mid-range, then the e8400 may not do you as much good. I should note though, that I don't have the GTX 280 installed yet. That 3dMark score posted, with the 700 point cpu boost, was with the 8800 GTX KO ed.
The e8400 was not a no brainer buy to me, but I did want a little more "umph" to go along with my GTX 280 SCC. Wasn't sure if my e6600 was going to cut it, even though it is OC'ed 2.4 ~ 3.2ghz. I've had that nice running overclock for a long time just with maybe slightly above average air cooling.
The e8400 runs at 3.0ghz by default, but of course it wasn't going to stay that way! Even if I didn't reach the .8ghz OC like on the e6600, I figured I would be happy with .6 or .7 OC, espeially considering that the 45nm & 6mb L2 cache also sweeten the deal.
As usual, before I installed it yesterday, I ran some final benchmarks, 3Dmark06, on my e6600. Cpu score right around 2700, most I've seen is 2750 on a fresh os install (vista).
In comes the e8400. The big test, could I get that .6ghz+ OC that would really justify this purchase by at least gaining the proper clock speed difference as if I didn't OC the e6600 or this e8400 (which is 2.4ghz to 3.0ghz, .6ghz being the difference)?
Well, as it turns out, much to my enjoyment, the e8400 was willing to OC far & beyond what I even wanted to go. In fact, turns out that my RAM was limiting my OC here & not the cpu.
Allow me to explain. I have 4gb of Mushkin EM DDR2-800 with nice, tightened timings. Default SPD is 5-5-5-18. I've been running 4-4-4-12 for the longest time, even with my .8ghz OC on the e6600! Only a notch bumped up on RAM voltage! Also, RAM was running at full DDR2-800 since I knocked down the multiplier on the e6600 & ran 3.2ghz @ 400 FSB.
Pretty cool to be able to run @ 1600 FSB while my value brand (although good brand name) RAM is running 4-4-4-12. That just doesn't happen for everybody that often.
That said, I did have some concerns with my only having DDR2-800 and the e8400 having the default 1333 FSB (the e6600 default was 1066).
So I kinda knew beforehand that my RAM might limit my e8400 OC potential unless I loosened timings.
However, that wasn't really the case. I actually managed a stable OC(tested with prime95, 2 threads) @ 3.71ghz while still keeping my RAM timings tightened at 4-4-4-12!!! On top of that my RAM is truly OC'ed as well, running @ DDR2-824, beyond 800 spec with my FSB being 412.
I gotta say, with those ram timings, I just might keep the 3.71ghz OC. Which, btw, is at stock vcore. So the only voltage bumps were a bit on the RAM, one notch on the MCH. Thats it!
That said, I guess I technically didn't quite achieve that .8ghz OC, but came close enough. However, I know the cpu would very likely OC to 3.8ghz & beyond if I loosened RAM timings. So I really couldn't be happier with the cpu and the overall OC, & since not raising the vcore at all, I still have amazing temps.
Lastly here, lets get to some results. As I said, my e6600 @ 3.2ghz (.8ghz OC) scored 2700 cpu on 3Dmark06. My e8400, with the exact same specs, including the tightened ram timings, @ 3.71ghz (.71ghz OC) scored just a notch under 3400! And I'm also probably due for a fresh OS install again.
Thus, if I weren't so stubborn about my ram timings & lossened them, I'm sure the score would be well over 3400 if I wanted to hit 3.8ghz+ (which I can if I want).
Don't have specific gaming benchmarks, but I can say that in the games I've tried, the e8400 is certainly making its difference felt. & a 700 point difference in 3Dmark.
In conclusion I guess I would say that if you are getting one of the new or upcoming powerhouse gpu's, an e8400 is a nice option to team up with the gpu (in my case the GTX 280), and I got mine at the egg, just $189.
And now I also have an e6600 with only about 7 months usage on it which I know I can sell and get back quite a bit of that $189. Not a bad deal.
However, if your gpu is a bit older or closer to mid-range, then the e8400 may not do you as much good. I should note though, that I don't have the GTX 280 installed yet. That 3dMark score posted, with the 700 point cpu boost, was with the 8800 GTX KO ed.
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