Intel Core 2 Duo E4x00
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Date: 02.05.2007
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The Core architecture keeps on its procession while while driving out the CPU lines of competitors and diminishing the population of predecessors based on NetBurst. We see that Pentium 4 and Pentium D are gradually disappearing from retail stores, and there is a growing shortage for even customary low-end Celerons. New processors are coming to replace the "outdated" models – the above mentioned Pentium D are being replaced by Intel Core 2 Duo E4xxx, and soon we'll see Celeron 4xx which is a single-core version of the Core 2 Duo. Anyway, let's look at the capabilities of Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 and Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 which have recently arrived at out test lab.
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 is shipped in the same retail box as all the others based on the Core architecture. Apart from the CPU itself, the box contains the same boxed cooler, an installation manual, and a logo sticker.
The CPU is easy to distinguish by the marking on the heat-spreading lid with the technical specifications on: the operating clock speed – 1.8 GHz, 2 MB of L2 cache size, system bus speed 800 MHz, with the requirement to the motherboard's electrical ratings PCG 06. For details of the CPU, we visited Intel's web site and found them with the search phrase sSpec Number SL9TB.
For comparison, we bring in the specifications for Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 as the principal and most interesting subject of today's comparison which by and large differs in only the system bus speed.
As we can see, apart from the slower system bus speed - 800 MHz versus 1066 MHz - Core 2 Duo E4300 has been deprived of support for the Intel Virtualization Technology through migration to the new stepping L2.
CPU-Z 1.39 displays more details of the CPU's technical traits.
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 and Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
The architectural changes are confirmed by the changes in positioning of the transistors on the bottom side of the CPU.
Intel Core 2 Duo E4400
Recently, one more low-end Core 2 Duo numbered 4400 has appeared on the retail stores.
Foe now, there are only BOXed versions of this interesting and promising CPU. It is interesting above all for its 2 GHz clock speed. Recall that the lower model of this product line ranks higher, the Core 2 Duo E6300 offers a bit lower clock speed - 1.86 GHz - but offers the much faster 1066 MHz system bus. Today, we'll find out which of the frequencies is more important, but now let's come back to the CPU.
Its distinguishing features are marked on the heat-spreading lid – the increased clock speed and the model number.
Unfortunately, Intel's web site has not yet published any info on CPUs with sSpec Number SLA3F, but according to the comparative tables we can surely state that Core 2 Duo E4400 differs from Core 2 Duo E4300 in only the multiplier, which is now 10 instead of 9, and thus in the operating clock speed.
Viewed from the bottom, Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 looks the same as its lower-end counterpart.
Overclocking
Certainly, those who are into boosting performance without extra investments, that is, through overclocking, would find the two representatives of the Core 2 Duo E4x00 family more attractive than the lower-end Core 2 Duo E6x00, both in terms of the lower price and the good overclocking capability.
The Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 specimen which we got for tests was able running stably at 3.28 GHz under the system bus speed 365 MHz (QP 1460 MHz).
But Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 pleased us even more especially when it was running stably at 3.5 GHz and at FSB 350 MHz (QP 1400 MHz).
Of course, we can't state that Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 offers better overclocking capability than Intel Core 2 Duo E4300, because overclocking is always a lottery, therefore your results could be better or worse than that produced by us. In both cases, the stability threshold was at 1400 MHz of the effective speed of the system bus
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