If you’re in the market for a new CPU but don’t have a lot of money to spend, it’s hard not to be impressed by Intel’s Core 2 Duo E4300.
On paper its specs are rather unassuming, the chip ships with just 2MB of L2 cache and runs at 1.8GHz on an 800MHz FSB – definitely nothing state-of-the-art by today’s standards – but as you saw in our benchmarks, when overclocked the Core 2 Duo E4300 becomes quite a performer, outrunning even Intel’s Core 2 Extreme X6800 in our tests. It’s here where the CPU really shines.
The key to the E4300’s overclocking potential is its 9.0x multiplier. As we stated earlier, 9.0x is high enough that you can hit high CPU clock speeds without having to overdo it on the FSB. This was the only real downside to Intel’s previous value offering, the Core 2 Duo E6300; the E6400 actually had better OC’ing potential thanks to its 8.0 multiplier, but it sells for well over $200.
The E4300 on the other hand has the higher multiplier, but more importantly, carries a much lower price tag. Intel lists it for $20 less than the Core 2 Duo E6300. The E4300 lacks support for virtualization, but as we explained earlier this feature is more important in the server realm than on the desktop; most users will hardly notice it’s missing. You’d be hard-pressed not to notice the performance put up by our Core 2 Duo E4300 though, especially when overclocked.
Even if you exclude overclocking, there’s a lot to like about the Core 2 Duo E4300. It outruns its nearest competitor in price, AMD’s Athlon 64 X2 4000+, all while running quite efficiently. The chip is only outfitted with 2MB L2 cache and this does hurt performance somewhat, but keep in mind that at the resolutions you’re most likely to game at, 1280x1024 and 1600x1200 with AA/AF turned on, the smaller cache really doesn’t have an impact, instead the GPU is much more important. And with the money you saved by going with a Core 2 Duo E4300, you can perhaps upgrade from the GeForce 7900 GS or Radeon X1650 XT you’d intended on purchasing up to a GeForce 7950 GT or Radeon X1950 Pro. This should make the CPU exciting if you’re a gamer who loves eye candy.
Intel’s push to replace their Netburst processors with Core 2 is a significant coup for gamers and hardware enthusiasts on a budget looking to upgrade. As the Core 2 Duo E4300 has just demonstrated, you can wring a lot of performance out of the CPU without shelling out a lot of money. The real beauty of it though is that as good as things are now, they’re about to get even better, with Q2’07 seeing the introduction of another Core 2 E4000 CPU, the E4400, as well as the E6420 and 6320. Not to mention the upcoming price cuts.
With all this in mind, upgrading to Core 2 has never been more affordable.
Batman: Arkham City PC Review Batman: Arkham City is the sequel to 2009’s smash-hit action game Batman: Arkham Asylum. As the name suggests, you will be reprising your role as the Caped Crusader and going against an even larger 'prison' filled with Gotham's criminals and villains. A textbook example on how to do a proper sequel, Arkham City takes what worked in the original, excised or improved upon what didn’t, and elevated everything to an even greater scope. The PC version suffered from a few months of delay, but in that time, Rocksteady worked closely to NVIDIA to implement some familiar technologies from the last game, such as PhysX and 3D Vision, along with new DirectX 11 optimizations. But how well was the whole package executed? Read on to find out!
Saints Row: The Third PC Review Saints Row is one of most unique series of games to build upon the open-world action template forged by Grand Theft Auto, and has met with plenty of critical and commercial success since it began on consoles back in 2006. This latest iteration, titled Saints Row: The Third promises the most outlandish fun and freedom of customization of them all, and in a much more PC-friendly package than its predecessor. Does it live up to those expectations and, more importantly, is it worth the price of admission? Find out in Will's latest review!
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim PC Review The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is Bethesda Softworks’ latest offering in their series of epic fantasy RPGs, as well as one of the most highly-anticipated PC titles of 2011. As the Dovahkiin, or Dragonborn, prepare to take the fight to the mythical beasts that have returned to the realm after centuries of slumber, all the while exploring a huge and highly-detailed open world.
The PC version of the game promises enhanced graphical fidelity, standard RPG trimmings such as hotkeys and quick-save, as well as unbridled mod support, something we’ll all be thankful for once they release that SDK. Skyrim has already sold millions of copies and set records for play-time on Steam... Find out why in today's review, which happens to be one of the biggest and most in-depth articles on the subject out there!
L.A. Noire Complete Edition PC Review L.A. Noire, as the name clearly states, is a video game built on the tropes of one of the greatest periods of American cinema: film noir. Developed by the now defunct Australian developer Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games, this title has been out on consoles for a full six months before finally making its way to the PC. This “Complete Edition” of the game features improved graphics, keyboard/mouse controls, and every bit of previously-released DLC for free. But was it truly worth the wait? Read on and find out!
Intel Core i7-3960X Sandy Bridge-E Performance Review
Today marks the launch date for Intel’s Sandy Bridge-E line of processors, a new family of high-end Core i7 products based on the LGA 2011 platform. This new socket is poised to replace the existing LGA 1366 specification used by the more powerful Nehalem and Westmere parts from the past couple years, specifically Bloomfield and Gulftown, the Core i7-9xx+ line of CPUs.
With 6 cores, 15MB of cache, and support for quad-channel DDR3-1600 memory, the Core i7-3960X sounds like quite a catch. Want to know more about it and how it performs? Read on!
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Xbox 360 Review
The self-appointed "most anticipated game in history" launched worldwide this past Tuesday. Why, it's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, of course (of course), what else? Unsurprisingly, the military FPS debate between this and Battlefield 3 rages on, but now that both have been released, surely we can take a look and objectively evaluate them both? Luke's taken the Xbox version of MW3 for a spin this week, so to find out what he thinks of it in today's review!
Stronghold 3 Review
The latest sequel in the long-running real-time strategy franchise from FireFly Studios, Stronghold 3 is all about building your dream castle and defending it against sieging enemies. Almost exactly one decade after the first game was released, this new title promises a return to the classic and well-received gameplay that has been strayed so far from in more recent iterations. Does it live up to those expectations? Will (AKA Synchronous Failure) tells us all about it in his first official FiringSquad review, so read on!
Battlefield 3 PC Review - Single-player Impressions
One of the most highly-anticipated PC games of the year is upon us; Battlefield 3 is now available in North America! EA/DICE have finally delivered a sequel to the core Battlefield franchise, a proper follow-up to BF2. Having played through the game's single-player campaign already, ahead of the multiplayer festivities kicking off around midnight, I figured I'd share my impressions ASAP. Is it really a worthy addition to the core Battlefield series, or just another bullet point on the back of the box? Read on and find out!
Wrecked: Revenge Revisited Supersonic Software Interview
Following up on our hands-on preview from earlier this month, here's an interview with Supersonic Software, creators of Wrecked: Revenge Revisited. The game's coming out on XBLA and PSN in a matter of weeks, but for now, Luke chats with the developer about its predecessors Mashed and Micro Machines, how difficult it can be to get an indie game published, the closure of Codemasters' Guildford branch, and more!
Orcs Must Die! PC Review Orcs Must Die! is the first release from an independent developer named Robot Entertainment. Fans of classic real-time strategy games may have heard that name before, as the outfit is comprised of many veterans from Ensemble Studios, creators of the Age of Empires series.
Equal parts action and strategy, this is a tower defense game that not only puts you in command, but on the front lines of combat, as well. Slaughter thousands of orcs, ogres and other vile creatures of fantasy that invade your fortresses through 24 levels of the story-based campaign. With high levels of replayability thanks to its scoring and leaderboard functionality, multiple difficulty levels, and various styles of play, it sounds a steal at only $15. Does it deliver on all that’s promised, though? Read on and find out!