Today’s overclocking article is a little different than normal for a few reasons. This article is also a bit of a guide, as it shows users exactly how we achieved certain overclocks. It also shows off the overclocking performance of the E4600 as well as its standard 2.40GHz performance, which was quite impressive anyway.
The latest line-up of Intel dual-core processors starts at just $75 US (E2140) and goes higher than we can afford. The point is Intel has made sure that there is a current generation processor at a price to suit everyone and they have done so with the E2000, E4000 and E6000 series. Processors from the E2000 series only get a 1MB L2 cache, while the E4000 series offers a much bigger 2MB L2 cache and then finally for the ultimate in dual-core technology we have the 4MB L2 cache E6000 series of processors.
For a perfect balance of performance and value we have always fancied the E4000 series, which now comes in four versions being the E4300, E4400, E4500 and now the E4600. The key difference between these four processors is their clock multiplier, which defines their operating frequency. The E4300 became a bit of a legend around here when it was first released, as it was capable of reaching incredible heights at just $130 US. The E4400 was just as impressive and only cost slightly more, and although both topped out around 3.50GHz, the E4400 required a much smaller FSB to get there. This means that the E4400 is more memory friendly.
The other great thing about the E4400 that we really loved was the fact that this processor featured a 10x clock multiplier, which is the same multiplier used by the E6700. This meant if you were to increase the E4400 FSB from 200MHz to 266MHz, which was incredibly easy to do, you would end up with a 2MB L2 cache version of the E6700 for a third of the price. Performance wise they did end up being very similar, though of course the E6700 was slightly faster. Then the E4500 came along and while the 11x clock multiplier was tempting we decided to give this one a miss.
However, now the E4500 has been pushed down the food chain by the new E4600, which we just had to look at as very few dual-core processors feature a 12x clock multiplier. In fact let me rephrase that, the E4600 is the first Core 2 Duo desktop processor to utilize a 12x clock multiplier. What this means is while the E4300 requires a 333MHz FSB to reach 3.0GHz, the E4600 need only be set to a 250MHz FSB in order to achieve a 3.0GHz operating frequency. Given the E6000 series processors use a 266MHz FSB, there will be no Core 2 Duo motherboards out there that cannot support a 250MHz FSB. Furthermore, regardless of the motherboard used, this overclock will work perfectly with DDR2 memory as slow as 533MHz.
