Recommendations
Overclocking an unfamiliar processor to its limit usually requires increasing clock speed and voltage separately, in small increments, until additional voltage provides no increase in clock speed. But that unfamiliarity can lead to settings that significantly shorten the component’s lifespan. On the other hand, the old fashioned “safety” rule to increase voltage by no more than 10% would have left these products far short of their true potential.
Today we used four processors that have been on the market long enough to determine vital information such as the maximum tolerable voltage and life expectancy. Using slightly less than the “maximum long-term safe” voltage allowed an almost-stunning 64% clock speed gain on Intel’s Pentium E5200. Plus, if this architecture's history is a good indicator, there's a strong likelihood that the part will survive many months to several years of use. As stated in several System Builder Marathon articles, we specifically recommend this $70 processor for ultimate-value overclocking.
The biggest let-down was the Core 2 Quad Q8200, a part that actually contains two of the same dice as the E5200 under its lid. The problem of a “locked” multiplier becomes critical on an FSB-1333 CPU that can’t reach FSB-1600, and Intel doesn’t offer a cheaper, FSB-800 version to play with. If you wanted a more rewarding experience with this chip, you'd likely need to spend extra on the low-power 'S' version.
Anyone who really wants the best overclocking value from a quad-core could easily look to the Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition or Core i7 920 as safe bets. The Black Edition’s unlocked multiplier guarantees a lack of drama over HT clock, while the i7-920’s well-known tolerance to increased base clock speed makes unlocked multipliers an afterthought. But while our X4 955 Black Edition proved its capabilities at 3.86 GHz, the price of entry for the competing Core i7-920 was just a little beyond the budget of today’s guide. Disappointing headroom in the Q8000-series and a price-exclusion for Core i7 allow AMD's Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition to earn our value-overclocking recommendation for quad-core CPUs.
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Using top end motherboards isn't really budget overclocking, a cheap p43 board is sufficient for e5200 overclocking, additionally a q9400 is only 25% more than a q8200 and overclocks to 3.5Ghz with ease
..or allows, considering different models often come off the same wafer xD
Still, I doubt the AMD-basher's will let that one rest..
I like it. I like to see how far we can push this technology as well as how to keep the idle TDP as low as possible. I think the phenom II 955 suits me the best. AMD overdrive allows you to set both preformance settings as well as the idle settings. Something were i7 failt for me.
I would like to keep cool and quiet on at all times because i dont would want a high power bill and because my computer is on for a few days in a row. So my challenge would be how can i keep the voltage and clocks very low at idle but maintain a resonable desktop preformance. However for gaming i can use some extra headroom. i like to fine tune it well.
Why the hell did you choose an 8200? That makes no sense at all, its poor overclocking performance is widely documented.
Better would be to choose something else, then have a side note saying 'do not buy this part to OC'.
if you want a cheap stable intel overclockable intel quad core look for a Q6600 or if you really want a challenge look for a Q6700, both are very good OCers but are EOLed
Strange to think its Intel that got an unfair bashing this time around. Using top-end mobos in a budget OC session is a major no-no. Using a Q8200 instead of something closer to the X4-955BE's price tag, like the Q9300, is just plain stupid.
To be honest, switching to budget mobos wouldn't have affected the outcome that much; from what reviews I've heard the MSI 770-C45 is a perfectly decent AM3 budget OC board going for a pittance and there are a few MSI and Gigabyte P35/P43 mobos in the same price range on the Intel side of things.
I need to get out of my closet and start reading these forums way more.
Thanks for a very interesting thread
(Even if criticed by some)
e5200 oc at fsb 1066 (no voltage increasing)
What would be the lifespan of the processor.