• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Core 2 Overclocking: E6300 vs. E6400

UncleDavid218

2[H]4U
Joined
Jan 16, 2006
Messages
2,734
I will be watercooling the CPU and using 2GB of Corsair Dominator PC8500 memory on an ASUS Commando

My question is, is the E6400 worth the $40 or so dollars over the E6300 in terms of 24/7 overclocked speeds?
 
I've had my 6300 overclocked to 3.0GHz 24/7 since October and have had no problems. I literally mean 24/7, i almost never turn the computer off.
 
I prefer the E6400 over the E6300. The 8X multi makes overclocking much easier than the 7X multi without having to spend big money on high MHz memory.

An E6400 at 8 X 400 = 3200 MHz can be achieved with most any memory at default CPU voltage of 1.325 volts with the Intel heatsink and fan. Very simple to build a super computer these days without much tweaking at all. To get that same performance out of an E6300 you need a FSB of 457 MHz and memory that can run reliably at DDR2-914 speed.

I've built one of each and for 24/7, the E6400 is definitely the way to go.

If you're water cooling it should be fairly simple to hit 8 x 450 = 3600 MHz with an E6400 and be Orthos stable on a good board.
 
6400, no doubt about it. 3.6 is easy to get especially with your setup.
 
It actually is more expensive at Newegg right now

You don't always have to shop at newegg. There are other places you can get E4300 for cheaper.

If you want to overclock that 9x multiplier might be better than E6400 or 6300 if you can live without virtualization. You could probably run 8x multiplier with E4300 if you wanted. Once you get to a certain speed you won't notice too much fps difference anyways with current crop of cards.
 
[OT] The problem with the E4300 is not the 9x clock multiplier, it is that the E4300 is only designed for 800 MHz front side bus, while the E6300 & E6400 are designed for 1066 MHz bus [/OT]

I think the E6400 is the better choice for most people, because you don't have to push the memory speed nearly as far, so you can buy cheaper memory. What good is saving $40 on the E6400 CPU itself if you need to spend another $100 on the RAM? Getting over 450 MHz is iffy both for the memory and the motherboard.

There are no guarantees with the E6400 you might only get 2800 MHz with it. Some of it is the luck of the draw. But a lot of people running garden variety PC6400 memory can get 3200 MHz on stock voltage with the stock Intel heatsink/fan.
 
I will be watercooling the CPU and using 2GB of Corsair Dominator PC8500 memory on an ASUS Commando

My question is, is the E6400 worth the $40 or so dollars over the E6300 in terms of 24/7 overclocked speeds?

Well, you're spending a lot on high end memory, so you might not need the extra multiplier. Personally, I'd just get the Cas 4 Corsair DDR2 800 memory and the E6400 and not worry about the dominator stuff.
 
6400, no doubt about it. 3.6 is easy to get especially with your setup.

3.6 still requires a little luck (good chip). I've had two e6400's that'll be almost stable at 3.6ghz with ~1.45v (l617a and l630a) but something's still shady. I'll eventually switch up the psu and mobo and see if it helps.

But as for e6300 vs e6400, definitely the 6400. You're getting the commando, so you should be able to settle in the low 500's without a problem at all. With that in mind, if your goals are only around 3.5-3.6, then the e6300 would do you well. But that'd still be pretty much the limit since mid-higher 500 fsb's still requires a little luck even on the commandos from what I've read.

Now with the e6400, you'd be fine, since you'd have the 8x multi to land you a theoretical 4ghz at 500fsb. That said though, is it worth the extra $40? You'd probably end up either in the higher 400's with around 3.6-3.8ghz, or lower 500's to get 3.6ish as well.

But as stated, the e4300 is a good chip to buy for what you're trying to do. It's got a 9x multi, but as with all newer c1/eist chips, you can scale multi down to 6x. That said though, it looks like most people are topping out around 3.5ghz for the e4300's, so...
 

you gotta see though that the op has good memory in mind as well the commando, so he'd be looking for the high fsb's if possible anyway. there's a good chance he'll get a e6400 and end up with the 7x multi anyway. but figure 8x is a good safety to have
 
you gotta see though that the op has good memory in mind as well the commando, so he'd be looking for the high fsb's if possible anyway. there's a good chance he'll get a e6400 and end up with the 7x multi anyway. but figure 8x is a good safety to have
i sure wish i had it :(
 
Back
Top