Hello...
Finally, I had decided to purchase a C2D processor and to be frank, I'm a little hyped over this processor.
I will be getting an E6300 1.8GHz C2D retail box which is going to cost me RM655 ($177) only.
Plus, I will be receiving a Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe motherboard next week and I'm hoping to breach 3.7GHz on water cooling. This motherboard costs about RM500 ($135) only and I'm already seeing a few users hitting close to 500FSB without any mods. However, the board comes with single PCI-E x16 slot and VDIMM is limited to 2.1V max. Luckily, I learnt from the TForce 590 SLI Deluxe that a simple pencil trick can boost the VDIMM to 2.4V. I will post the pencil mod soon...

Let's see how things turns out...

Here are two images of the E6300 that I will be receiving soon:




Updates:
- View my test setup pictures (pg 3).
- Overclocking Results on Stock HSF (pg 3).
- Intel Boxed Stock Heatsink Fan Thermal Testing at 1.8GHz & 3GHz (pg 3).
- 3GHz at 1.280V only [Overclock + Undervolt] 10 hours Prime Stable!!! (pg 4).
- 3.3GHz at 1.424V - 8 hours Prime Stable (pg 4).
- Benchmark Results with GeForce 7950 GX2 (stock) + E6300 @ 3.3GHz (pg 5).
- How to run 400FSB on TForce P965 DXL (pg 6).
- Core 2 Duo setup watercooled and installed in SilverStone TJ05 case (pg 7).

Yeah good one pcmoddingmy, cant wait to see how the C2D overclocks?

any detail on the type of stepping u will be getting ?? or rather how do u know which stepping is good for overclocking since these procs were launched not too long ago.

i've got a friend whos got C2D E6600 and wasnt too happy with his overclock results he was getting something like 3.2ghz stable @ abt 1.4v core and his target is 3.6ghz but needed something like 1.6vcore to get it stable on 3.6ghz, a tad too high for a 65w TDP processor.

Stepping should be stepping 6 but I'm not too sure about the week. I would like to hope it will be week 24 or 25. Those babies born on week 24 above does 100% OC!

Yep.. early E6600's are crap which is why everyone loves E6300!

As for heat, I'm starting to think that C2D's produces as much heat as Prescotts. I've seen a couple of overclocking results on stock Vcore with temps going over 60ºC with the stock cooler.

tell me where you live so that i can gut you and take your E6300

Haha...... even if I told you, you can't grab it coz it haven't arrived yet. ETA will be next Tuesday or so.
Gimme some time to play with it first laa... don't so fast rob it from me.

My friend who is using the E6600 was told that those babies born on week 26 is pretty darn good for overclocking.

Im waiting for the C2D extreme edition quad core due early next year. That will be the one to get.

Do u think its worth getting E6800 over E6700 ? any details or info on how far both will go?? although E6800 extreme is clocked higher on default 2.93ghz does this mean that it will overclock further?? And apparently E6800s are no longer multiplier unlock!!! So far to my knowledge, the E6800 is topping out at about 3.8ghz without water ???

Next year could also be the year FSB will be increased to 1333mhz and C2D extreme will be E6900 @ 3.33ghz anyone heard anything about it yet???

60 degrees on stock vcore??? is that suppose to be TRUE??? thought that the main selling point of C2D/Conroe is based on the 40/40 theory where it consumes 40% less power equivalent to a laptop and 40% increase in Perfomance? thats why it overclocks like hell

Checkout a few forums where they post overclocked results on C2D. Just now I saw one dude running a E6300 at 3.3GHz on stock vcore (stock cooler), and CPU temp was reported as 89ºC while priming.
C2D might consume less power and more performance, but I still think Prescott is back! And it's even hotter!
Even my good ol' Pentium 840EE doesn't go over 64ºC at 3.2GHz on stock cooler.

Anyways, I will be conducting thermal testing on my E6300 when I get it. I plan to test it using the stock cooler and see how it handles overclocking at stock Vcore. If it does over 64ºC at stock vcore/freq, I'd say its hotter than Prescott!

Wa...where did u get the e6300 for only rm655?

and how come you choose Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe over a Gigabyte DS3? i thought the DS3 can overclock well... both pricings are about the same, right?

Well, I got the E6300 through a friend at LYN. If you wan't, I can PM you his mobile number.

DS3 does overclock well, but it has loads of bugs and issues. Just check the pinned thread at XS.
I went with the TForce P965 because I believe it overclocks just as well as the DS3, maybe better. I've seen the TF P965 hit over 500FSB easily without mods. The only limitation with the TF P965 will be the VDIMM which maxes out at 2.1V.

Stay tuned for some E6300 + TF P965 overclocking action starting next week.

In my opinion C2D appearly to be cold n high performance same as wat bulldog said 40/40..

Prem, "but I still think Prescott is back" is wrong since presscott is really a crap becos it using stock vcore,stock cooler, stock FSB and running at stock speed(witout OC) which also generate a lot of heat.



keep in mind that the dude is doing abt 90% OC on the C2D although it is stock vcore.

will prescott doing 90% OC increment with its stock cooler? (i think it can boil water not oni fryng egg)

in term of performance, i think u all should know that E6300 outperform other higher speed proc..

When I mentioned about Prescott, I was referring to the heat, not performance. Judging by a Pentium 840EE 3.2GHz processor I have, it runs at 37ºC during idle and 64ºC during full load with the stock cooler (everything at stock). The CPU was 100% loaded with four instances of Prime95 running for 20mins with room temp recorded at around 27ºC.

No doubt that the Core is fast, but I'm don't think it is one of the "coolest" processors around.

Anyways, I will be doing my own testing on the C2D soon and I will mainly focus on the temperature part as most of us are already familar with its performance.

hot processors indeed... i pushed my P4 2.8Ghz to 3.2Ghz and it's full load temp is only 44.

sumting out topic..
i feel SUN ultraSPARC proc is a very cool proc but not available at end user market..

Guys, I've got two new... Firstly, the good news is I got my week 27 Core 2 Duo E6300 already. Now just need the right board to get some overclocking action. Biostar told me that the TForce P965 Deluxe is on the way to my office today. So hopefully, I can start testing tomorrow or the day after.

Secondly, I've got a bad news:
DFI Cancels The Highly Anticipated LANParty UT nF590 SLI Intel Edition

damn... that's too bad. Anyway, got your processor already? I've got my gear all set up to storm your house.

try ask ur freen how much the E6600 .
i`m try to getting that hardware

Haha... E6300 also wanna storm my house?
Luckily I didn't tell you that I have a X6800 test bench..

Btw, guess what arrived at my doorstep today:



Yeap... some OCZ DDR2 RAMs. Unlike most OCZ modules I've tested before, these PC2-6400 Special Ops Edition Urban Elite kit looks pretty cool with its Urban Camo Motif XTC heatspreaders. It is rated at DDR800 and does CL4-4-3 with just 2.1V. Currently doing DDR975 at CL4! Stay tuned for the complete review...

Edit: It just passed 8hours Prime test at 565MHz CL5-5-5-15 at 2.5V. Although it completed Super PI 32M at 570MHz, I had to drop another 5MHz to be Prime stable. This thing beats my PC8000 VX2!

now you give me a good reason to do more than storm your house. *prepares smoke grenades*

Guys, earlier I've posted that C2D are running hotter than ever and this is mainly because of the flatness of the IHS (Internal Heatspreader). After looking at various IHS on the C2D, I found two different types of ISH on the C2D processors.

Due to some poor QC by Intel, some of the processors were shipped with non -flat concave IHS. These C2D processors with concave IHS seems to have poor contact with the heatsinks.

Gotta rush out now.. will update later.

pcmoddingmy:
So thats why you get it so cheap...

No no... it was not mine. Heck, I haven't even tested mine yet. To busy with reviews... LOL

How do i check whether they are flat or not? and i noticed that there are different weeks of C2D...like yours is week 27. which week should i get?

Have you reviewed the Inno3d 7900GS yet? i'm waiting for it

You just have to look at it. See below pic:


Source
According to the source, the processor with "sharp" edges appears to be non-flat. So, the best way out is to get processors with beveled edges. Make sure you take out the CPU and check for flatness before leaving the shop. Shheesh.. I hope mine is flat like a drag strip!

CPU batch code (week) is not related to IHS flatness. Although some reported that week 26 and above is best, there's still some users unable to clock higher than older weeks. Anyhow, I've seen a number of users hitting good clocks on week 27, but that was on E6600 though.

As for the 7900GS, no.. we haven't get the samples in yet. Will check with my supplier and get info on the ETA.

thanks for the valuable info pcmoddingmy on the CPU difference, thats the reason on some C2D running prescott temps with those poor IHS

this is one precious info on how far i can overclock my next C2D with good temps

Okay... finally I got hold of my E6300 (week 27). The IHS looks flat and the edges are beveled all right... Let's see how it fires up!

Btw, edited my post about the OCZ PC2-6400 RAMs.

Some update...
Just installed my system and it is running at 3GHz on default Vcore as I speak. This was done with the stock cooler (stock TIM) and I'm getting about 44ºC CPU temp in BIOS. I haven't booted into Windows yet, so just making sure everything is stable with the built-in Memtest tool. Yeah, the TForce P965 Deluxe is probably the only C2D board that has this feature.

Temperature with case cover closed or open?

Wonder what will be the temp in daytime with hot weather. Hope this board is cooler than the gigabyte DS3.

btw can you ask Biostar where or when we can get the board in the retail shops?

Temperature was based on a open bench setup, without a case. Room temp was about 27.5ºC over here (no A/C).

The P965 is pretty cool and the old warm part is the NB heatsink. The NB heatsink is just warm to touch..
The board doesn't tell the NB temp but it reports system temp at about 33ºC.
Currently priming for over 30mins with CPU temp reading at 63C (Biostar software), but CoreTemp reads about 60-62C only. Heck, the CPU heatsink is not even hot at all... I can still remember how hot it was to touch a heatsink with my old Pentium 840 EE running at 60C... it will burn your fingers!

I read some where that the temp sensor on the C2D is located closer to the heat source, which explains the higher temp reporting despite the heatsink being way cooler. Why would Intel place the sensor closer to the heat source? IMO, the sensor should be located near the core so that it will be more accurate and logical. I bet the heatsink will read about half the temperature of the CPU!

Ouch... the stock hsf is quite dangerous. The fan hit my fingers just now when I was trying to touch the heatsink. Make sure you guys becareful with it.

Btw, the stock fan seems to be pretty silent even at full speed. Unlike previous 5xx series and 8xx series stock fan, these new fans runs at 2300rpm max and is only as loud as a standard 120mm case fan. Thank God we don't have to deal with a stock cooler that sounds like a jet engine!

Ok, I think I will definitely get the Biostar board instead of the Gigabyte.

Btw, maybe once you put the MB in a casing, the fan will be more audible because of the vibrations against the case and the resonance.

Pcmoddingmy, if possible, could you be kind enough to direct me to the person where you got the E6300 from. I want to make sure I get the one with the rounded edge as well. (Edited :- Oops, sorry, you are not from KL )

Alternately is it possible to tell from whatever info printed on the stickers outside the box, the week of the CPU batch.

Well, the Biostar mobo doesn't have any fans. Its totally silent

I'll PM you about the E6300 seller.

Yes, you can identify the week of the CPU batch by looking at the sticker label. It should read "FPO/Batch: L627xxxx". "L627" means week 27, "L626" means week 26.
"L6" is probably the stepping, which is 6.

Btw, I left the CPU to burn in at 3.2GHz (457FBS - 1.45Vcore) the whole night. Let's see how far we can go with this setup. I tried to boot at 470FSB last night, but the board seems to be unstabled. I suspect it could be the NB heatsink getting too hot. Anyways, 450FSB was done on stock chipset voltage

Wow...3ghz with stock vcore and stock hsf...is its better than the DS3?

how much does this Biostar board cost? and when will it be available here in Malaysia?

and please pm me the seller's details too

Thanks for the update on the progress.

I meant the HSF on the CPU But then you are joking about it right, how silent it is until it doesn't exist

Is the Seller from KL? I can only COD in KL.

Are you from KL?

The board costs about RM499/-. One of the shops said they got stock, so I will pay them a visit soon to see if it's just a marketing trick.

No, i'm from JB...very hard to find shops that carry the latest parts here

hmm..rm499...its cheaper than a DS3...will consider getting it but i'll wait and see the results pcmodding gets with this board...

Here's how my test setup looks like:





As you may have noticed, I swapped out the NB heatsink to Thermalright HR-05.



Here's my spec:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 "Allendale" + Stock HSF/TIM - (FPO/Batch #: L627A436) - Pack Date: 08/06/2006
Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe
OCZ PC2-8000 Titanium Alpha VX2 4-4-4
BBA ATi Radeon X800XL 512MB
FSP Epsilon 700W PSU

If you looked closely, you may also notice the VDIMM mod that I'm using with this board. It was running at 2.3V when I took that picture but it goes all the way up to 3.0V. Without the mod, the board maxed out at 2.15V only!

Edit: Currently testing thermal performance with the stock cooler at default clock and 3GHz. Plan to use this as a baseline for heatsink comparo.

If you have the time, could you also kindly check out how far it will overclock without the VDIMM mod? Thanks.

Well, it depends on the memory.
At 2.15V, my OCZ can do 450MHz easily.

ATM, I'm having issues going over 472FSB (3.3GHz) with this board. The CPU is cooler with TR Ultra-90 and the HR-05 cools the NB. Added a fan near the PWM also...
Sometimes it boots at 480FSB, but it was not stable. Upping the chipset volt didn't seem to help..

Gonna try water-cooling tmr!

Guess 472 is the limit.

What are the temp now that you have added those two coolers to the CPU and NB? Any preliminary results yet?

So when doing prime at 3.3Ghz was it stable 100%?

I too think 472FSB is the limit, but I've not given up yet.

NB seems to be pretty cool but there's no way to monitor the temp. I believe it is now a lot cooler than ori HS. I will update the CPU temps shortly. Gonna compare it with the stock cooler and Ultra-90.

I haven't got 3.3GHz to be stable yet but I left the CPU to burn in yesterday at 3.2GHz. However, I did a Super PI 32M run at 3.3GHz and it completed w/o errors.

Reinstalling Windows now... was using the old Windows that was setup for the i995X board

Here's some overclocking results done yesterday:

E6300 L627
Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe
OCZ PC2-8000 TiA VX2 2x1GB
X800XL 512MB
FSP Epsilon 700W
Open Bench
Room Temp: 27.5ºC

3GHz | 1.325V (Default) BIOS | 1.312V Windows | 429.5MHz FSB | Stock HSF


3.1GHz | 1.350V BIOS | 1.328 Windows | 443.9MHz FSB | Stock HSF


3.3GHz | 1.400V BIOS | 1.372 Windows | 472.5MHz FSB | Stock HSF


8 hours Dual CPU Burn-in at 3.2GHz | 1.450V BIOS | 1.440V Windows | 457.6MHz FSB | Stock HSF

Arghh... disaster!
One of my three systems had a BLOWN PSU just now and it took down my whole workstation. I was trying to power up that system when I heard a loud "BANG" and followed by some "FIREWORKS". Power went out and I smelt something burning...but no smoke.
Took out the PSU and luckily that buggah it didn't damage anything else, especially my 3-days old Core 2 Duo test bench. Currently running direct off the wall socket without any AVR as it got fused. To my surprise, the fuse inside the AVR blew into a million pieces!

Went out and bought a pair of 5 amps fuse but it was too fat! Can't insert into the fuse hole... dang! Hope TNB doesn't screw around with the currents...

What a bad day to start overclocking....

ouch... what was the psu rail? Seems to have quite a low count of rails for it to blow up.

It has quite a lot of rails... believe me.
It's not a cheapo PSU... I quit playing with cheapo PSUs already
I just don't want to mention the PSU make here until I send it back for postmortem.
If really it was the PSU's fault, I'll post the brand and exact model here.

Sorry about your bad day of 'clocking' , what brand of that PSU?

Not telling anyone until postmortem
Allright, my E6300 bench is up running again. Now back to FSP Epsilon 700W PSU.
Managed to boot at 482FSB just now, but did not complete Super PI 32M.

realised the vcore is pretty darn low for all that overclocking . Whats the limiting factor before going to water?

Yeah... Vcore is darn low but haven't tried at 1.2V yet. Seen some peeps overclocking over 3GHz at 1.2+V only!

Well, its hard to tell what's limiting me but I suspect its the board. My RAMs rated at 500MHz, so logically it should be able to do 500FSB at 1:1. Or it could be the CPU itself... maybe 3.3GHz is the max for this CPU. I don't think cooling is an issue here because even with Big Typhoon VX, the CPU heatsink is cooler than the NB (HR-05) heatsink anytime. Core Temp tells me that the CPU temp was at about 50-55C at 3.3GHz, 1.4V...

for a start this it is such a low power consuming CPU and produces such high processing output , cool man

i am just wondering what sort of vcore on air cooling before it needs watercooling just like most socket 939 on Air cooling anything under 1.6vcore

but C2D on 3ghz vcore 1.2 is one hell of a dam low voltage. But i Reckon to start overclocking with such low vcore does not mean that u can push vcore any further up to 1.6 probably phase change on that sort of voltages for C2D

Pcmoddingmy, Any further progress?