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Chances of getting an E4300 to 3GHz with stock voltage and cooling?

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Kap

Registered
Joined
Aug 18, 2003
Hi everyone,

I'm just looking for some feedback and opinions on the likelikhood of getting a retail E4300 to hit 3GHz with its stock cooler without a voltage bump (or one that's mild enough for the stock cooler to handle).

I've always been a "bang for your buck" rather than ultimate performance overclocker, and I'm itching for a new build, for general computing and occasional gaming. I'm debating between going for a higher overclock (with a Conroe chip, better RAM, stronger power supply, high-end air cooling) or just going the cheap route with an E4300 (after the price drop), and seeing what I can squeeze out of it at stock voltage.

I'll probably hold onto this system for a couple of years, so on a side note, if I pair it up with a decent video card, will I notice a difference in games if I'm running at 3GHz as opposed to 3.5GHz? At this CPU level, will the video card be the bottleneck, or will I still need that extra CPU horsepower?

I'm trying not to be penny-wise and pound-foolish, ya know?


Any and all comments are welcome, and thanks in advance! :cool:
 
Kap said:
I've always been a "bang for your buck"


You can get an e6x00 if you can just hold off a few. That's what I am waiting on. You should be able to get 3GHz, not sure about stock tho. April prices are gonna get better :p
 
3Ghz for me was easy. Didnt do stock volts, but not much more than. And stock cooling is possible, although i did it on a Zalman CNPS9700 at the lowest fan speed...
 
stock cooling definitely, probably not stock volts. but you should be able to do it easily with a little extra voltage, and the cooler will handle it.

and unless you're really into benchmarking, you probably won't notice the difference between 3 and 3.5 unless you've got a strong video card. and the e4300 probably won't hit 3.5 on air anyway...
 
Thanks for the quick replies, guys. :)

atomicplayer, the E6320 is one that I'm considering if I decide to go the high road, and I'm definitely holding out for the price drop next month. You're not the only one waiting. Heh.

fordsierra4x4, I've been following your thread, and love the clocks you're getting out of yours. I suspect you'll be updating your signature soon. Nice!

brickout, I'll probably run a good mid-range video card (I'm leaning toward the x1950 series), and upgrade it down the road as need be. I don't expect the E4300 to hit 3.5GHz... that was a hypothetical high overclock that I could possibly get if I went the more expensive Conroe route, and your answer about the speed difference was what I was looking for. Thanks!
 
Mine takes 1.45 volts for 3GHZ, and 3.1 GHZ isn't even stable at 1.5 volts. I'm not sure what % are this bad, but people are less likely to be talking about them if they have a dog like mine. I never tried, but the temps would probably be around 70C with stock cooling for 3GHZ.
 
With a better cooler and a bump in voltage, you'll have no trouble running an E4300 at 3 gig. Get this Zalman 7700, it's quieter than a stock cooler and much better. Price ain't bad either. I got one for my wife's system and she loves how quiet it is. I have a buddy with one mounted on his E6300 system. Works like a charm. If you were going for max O/C, I'd recommend a different cooler, but for a modest O/C, it's hard to beat.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118114

At 333 FSB (E4300 @ 3 gig), you could use el cheapo DDR2-667 RAM. You also can get an inexpensive mobo like the Abit AB9 too. Yeah, it's a good bang for the buck. For gaming what will hold you back more than anything is the vid card. Take that cash you saved on CPU/mobo/RAM and spend it on the graphics card.
 
mine does 3.2ghz stock volts guess i was lucky, 24 hours orthos stable as well :)

stock cooler wasnt so bad @ stock volts when i was at 3.2 wsa getting about 55c load
 
rbwilton, I know what you mean, but when you consider that you're getting a 67% overclock above the stated speed, it's hardly a dog. :)
I'm trying to keep my expectations realistic, so your personal experience helps out a lot. If I can get more than 3GHz out of the chip, I'll certainly take it, but that seemed like a feasible target to aim for. It seems like a better cooler might be in order, either way.

batboy, thanks for the cooler advice. Although I didn't mention it in my original post, I'm also hoping to keep the system relatively quiet if I can, and that might be just the ticket. You know exactly which angle I'm looking at for this system, and I think I'll heed your advice and go with the cheaper E4300 combo for what I'm looking to do. Thanks a lot! :beer:

redrumy3...:drool:
 
I was able to get it to boot at stock volts, but I dont think it was orthos stable for more than a couple minutes.

A very slight bump in voltage should get you totally stable, and Im sure youll be fine on stock cooling.
 
rbwilton said:
Mine takes 1.45 volts for 3GHZ, and 3.1 GHZ isn't even stable at 1.5 volts. I'm not sure what % are this bad, but people are less likely to be talking about them if they have a dog like mine.

Man, this is really getting aggravating. A 1.2 GHz overclock makes your chip a dog? Give me a break. You're still above stock e6800 speed...
 
brickout said:
Man, this is really getting aggravating. A 1.2 GHz overclock makes your chip a dog? Give me a break. You're still above stock e6800 speed...

Well I know how he feels.. I'm not getting the OC I would like with my chip either. though 1.2 is not bad.
 
Oh for f*cks sake guys - you're bitching about it being a 'dog' when it doesnt overclock to insane speeds? Jesus gimme a break! You're lucky you get any kind of overclock, and 3Ghz from a chip rated at 1.8Ghz is NOT to be snorted at!

People that ***** are like l33t script kiddies that go 'ohnoes! mah ch1p w0nt overclokz0r!!!!1ONE!!!1' - its lame.

This also isnt the topic for E4300 bitching - you dont like it, make a bitching thread. :mad:
 
Thanks for the feedback, GuitsBoy. It's appreciated!


Hey, guys... I didn't want anyone getting upset in this thread. There's always a chance that you're taking when overclocking, and some chips will just clock higher than others. I wanted some opinions on the likelihood of hitting 3GHz at stock, but even I know that it's the luck of the draw, and I might get a chip that won't even reliably hit that. If I get 3Ghz, I'll be happy. If I get more than that, I'll be happy. If I get less, I'll still be happy, because this chip will be dirt-cheap a month from now when I get it, and I'll still be getting quite a bang for my buck. Sure, I'm optomistic and I'm hoping for a 'good' one, but I'm keeping things in perspective.
:)
 
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I understand what everyone is saying and I guess the term dog is a little strong. A percentage overclock like I'm getting on any other chip would be huge. In relative terms, when 95% or more of posters here get a better overclock relative to the voltage I have to use it feels like I have a dog.


If you read Kap's question I didn't see anyone saying this was unreasonable to expect:

"I'm just looking for some feedback and opinions on the likelikhood of getting a retail E4300 to hit 3GHz with its stock cooler without a voltage bump"

But a bunch of you are saying I'm unreasonable to want a little more than that with aftermarket cooling and a fairly large voltage bump. :confused:
 
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fordsierra4x4 said:
Oh for f*cks sake guys - you're bitching about it being a 'dog' when it doesnt overclock to insane speeds? Jesus gimme a break! You're lucky you get any kind of overclock, and 3Ghz from a chip rated at 1.8Ghz is NOT to be snorted at!

People that ***** are like l33t script kiddies that go 'ohnoes! mah ch1p w0nt overclokz0r!!!!1ONE!!!1' - its lame.

This also isnt the topic for E4300 bitching - you dont like it, make a bitching thread. :mad:

You've gotta chill out dude. My post was mainly adressing the question from the OP, and making a point that people tend not to post about their underperforming chips compared to others. It was not off topic at all. I notice you have a decent if not outstanding e4300 yourself. Maybe you'd be a little dissapointed if you were stuck at 3ghz. I think most of all of you critical posters would not be too happy yourselves with the overclock I've gotten. I think we can let the topic die here, and if I chose my words poorly in my first post I apoligize.
 
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