Is E6300 OC to 3.5Ghz worth buying?

[warwickmike]

I have been recently looking to upgrade my laggy P4 2.8Ghz machine, and want to get an Intel core 2 chip to overclock. Today I came across this system , it is core 2 e6300 overclock to 3.5Ghz, do you think it is worth buying?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330088153427

Thanks for all your help in advance.

 

[shinigamiX]

'Overclocking Testing' could mean a lot of things. Maybe they nudged the System clock up up 10MHz for the heck of it. Maybe they overclocked and upped the upped the voltage so much that it can only run for 20 seconds before dying. Beware of buying computer parts, especially parts that are as easy to break without leaving marks as CPUs.

 

[m25]

I have been recently looking to upgrade my laggy P4 2.8Ghz machine, and want to get an Intel core 2 chip to overclock. Today I came across these products , is it worth buying?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330088153427

Thanks for all your help in advance.

Overclocking is always worth if you do it well; even if you got a mild 3.0GHz from that chip, it would still be above the performance of any stock CPU today.

 

[warwickmike]

'Overclocking Testing' could mean a lot of things. Maybe they nudged the System clock up up 10MHz for the heck of it. Maybe they overclocked and upped the upped the voltage so much that it can only run for 20 seconds before dying. Beware of buying computer parts, especially parts that are as easy to break without leaving marks as CPUs.

Yes thanks for your help. They said they have ran prime95 for 2 hours with no problems. And according to the screen shots, cpu voltage was set to auto, therefore it should be within the correct limit. I guess I might give it a go if it is not too expensive, because the seller has 100% positive feedback...

Thanks for your advice again!!

 

[Threshold]

....it's ebay.

And it's more than a "normal" retail version. Significantly, even.

Probably 99% of all E6300s will hit 3.0, maybe even 3.2, and a good 85% to 90% will hit 3.5 with a decent motherboard. You just need a board that can get the FSB high enough.

Unless you need VT, you're probably better off going with an E4300, as it has a 9x multiplier and therefore doesn't need the motherboard to reach as high of an FSB to reach the same clock speed.

E4300: http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-142-IN
E6300: http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-126-IN

Overclocking is worth it. Ebay isn't.

 

[desolationw]

C2D 6300 £115

Asus P5B £115

It's a little bit dearer but more trustworthy IMO. Plus you also need a good aftermarket cooler.

 

[WR]

I'm aware many overclocking motherboards automatically adjust the Vcore based on CPU frequency, so an "Auto" setting does not necessarily indicate stock voltage of 1.275v. That a Tuniq Tower (said to be the best HSF on the market) would be used for cooling should make you wary (lower temperatures mean lower voltage to attain a frequency). That CPU-Z shows a bugged 1.213v readout probably discredits the claim that only stock voltage was used. This might be the seller's innocent misunderstanding over what this board does, though.

There are indeed people who buy processors for cheap to cherry pick among them while selling the weaker bins. You could still get a good deal if you pay less than what you would for a new 6300 and board, but if you're a heavy overclocker, this probably won't be in your fastest system.

 

[warwickmike]

Thanks for your advice. Buying new box products are doable, but at the end of the day, I can not garantee they will rock to 3.5Ghz, so if they don't work at 3.5G, I have to use them but can not return them back for a swap anymore....

 

[Threshold]

So what if it doesn't hit exactly 3.5?

You'll get more out of it at STOCK than you will out of your 2.8 P4. No joke. (Yes, that's before you count multithreaded apps.) Even for gaming.

Again, if you feel you HAVE to have 3.5, get an E4300. It's not a guarantee, either, but it's closer.

@desolationw
If that's a more reliable site, more power to it. I don't live in the UK myself, so it's not quite as easy for me to determine who's good and who's not.

 

[desolationw]

I was just reiterating what you said about ebay. I don't trust ebay and imo it is wiser to buy expensive computer components from a computer website.

For Example:
Aria.co.uk
Ebuyer
SpecialTech
etc