Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 Review & Overclocking - PAGE 15

Overclocking

Overclocking the Core 2 Quad Q8300 in many ways is incredibly easy - but it is also very annoying.

Why is it easy? Simple. You basically just have to crank up the FSB until you hit the FSB wall of your processor and/or motherboard.

Why is it annoying? Because with a higher multiplier you could run much faster!

Believe me, you will hit that wall sooner than you want, and because of the FSB wall, your overclocking potential is limited to the maximum stable FSB frequency your Northbridge and processor can communicate over.

With a good motherboard, you should be able to hit at least 450MHz - but very few motherboards will run reliably at much over 460MHz. Oh sure, you can POST at 500MHz - and there have been reports of posting at 600MHz or more - but there is a huge difference between posting, booting to windows, and being running crash-free after twenty different benchmarks.

As you saw from the charts, I was able to reliably run at 7.5x460Mhz - a 38% overclock that got me to 3.45GHz.

3.45GHz is nothing to sneeze at, but with a higher multiplier I think 4GHz+ would have been within reach.

All that was required was:

• set Vcore to 1.45V
• set Vfsb to 1.45V
• set FSB strap to 400MHz FSB
• run the DDR3 memory at 1380-8-8-8-24

I could run most benchmarks without many problems at 475MHz, and could post at 500MHz, but I hit the FSB wall (reliably) at 460MHz.

Given that I've previously run this motherboard stably at 490MHz, the 460MHz limit must have come from this particular processor.

Power Consumption

The stock speed Core 2 Quad Q8300 shined here - having the second lowest power consumption, only losing to the Q8200.

Conclusion

Before anything else, let's take a look at todays pricing for the processors at a major e-tailer:

• $290 - Core i7 920
• $1,460 -Core 2 Quad QX9770
• $190 - Core 2 Quad Q8300
• $170 - Core 2 Quad Q8200
• $230 - Phenom II X4 940
• $230 - Phenom II X4 810
• $148 - Phenom X4 9950

For these CPUs, here are some current typical motherboard prices -- don't know how far they will overclock, but will be good for stock speed:

• $79 - Asus M3A78
• $99 - Asus P5Q SE
• $199 - MSI X58 Pro

 Memory pricing:

• $55 - 2x2GB Kingston DDR2-1066
• $73 - 3x1GB OCZ DDR3-1333

Leading to the price-tag for the backbone of a system at:

• $496 - Core i7 920 ($290 + $199 + $7)
• $1614 -Core 2 Quad QX9770 ($1460 + $99 + $55)
• $344 - Core 2 Quad Q8300 ($190 + $99 + $55)
• $324 - Core 2 Quad Q8200 ($170 + $99 + $55)
• $364 - Phenom II X4 940 ($230 + $79 + $55)
• $364 - Phenom II X4 810 ($230 + $79 + $55)
• $282 - Phenom X4 9950 ($148 + $79 + $55)

For an enthusiast level motherboard, you can add about $100-$150 to the prices above.

Core 2 Quad Q8300 vs. Core i7 920

The i7 920 is faster. Sometimes a lot faster. It's also $152 more expensive for the core system, and frankly, if you are a gamer, you are better off spending that money on a better video card.

Core 2 Quad Q8300 vs. Core 2 Quad QX9770.

The QX9770 is faster - obliviously - but it is also a whopping $1,280 more. You can buy an awful lot of GPU power for a lot less than that.

Core 2 Quad Q8300 vs. Core 2 Quad Q8200 & Phenom X4 9950

The Q8300 is faster, the others are a bit cheaper, but go for the Q8300.

Core 2 Quad Q8300 vs. Phenom II X4 810 & Phenom II X4 940

Given that the Phenom 810 and 940 are the same price, go for the 940, which is a bit slower for some things, but overall, faster for most programs than the Q8300. It is also $20 more expensive - but it overclocks higher. Tough choice.

The Bottom Line

The Q8300 is easy on your hydro bill, and gives pretty darn good performance for the buck. Its overclocking is limited by the 1333MHz FSB, but you are extremely likely to be able to run at 3.375GHz (450x7.5) on any decent motherboard, and that is 175MHz faster than the stock speed of the extremely expensive QX9770.

We'd like to thank NCIX.com for helping us get the Q8300.