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E8500 - the last great overclocking chip?

Time marches on, and more 45nm processors get introduced... and today we get to look at Intel's new E8500.

Back last August, we reviewed Intel's Core 2 Duo E6750, and at the time it really impressed us. That fine little 65nm processor let us overclock to a blazing 3.8GHz with only high-end air cooling - a significant increase from its stock 2.66GHz clock rate.

Since then Intel introduced its Penryn series of processors, and we took a look at two of their extreme quad core processors - the QX9650 and the QX9770.

Frankly, I was blown away by both of those 45nm processors.

The QX9650 reached a maximum stable speed of 4.25GHz with air cooling; albeit I had to increase Vcore to 1.575V.

The QX9750 topped out at a slightly higher 4.30GHz with air cooling; again, at a dangerous 1.575V Vcore.

Those processors were "Extreme" parts, the top bin - basically the best Intel has. Which leads us to today's review: how will the Wolfdale (a dual core Penryn) E8500 perform? Granted, it is currently the top bin for dual core products, and Intel will apparently not produce multiplier unlocked "Extreme" dual core 45nm parts either... but how high will she go?

And if you are not overclocker, what kind of performance can you expect from the E8500 perform at its stock 3.16GHz? Unlike many of our readers, most "regular" users would not consider overclocking their processors; and as the "Core 2 Duo Scaling in Games" article by my colleague Kevin showed, after a certain point, processor speed matters very little at this time for performance in gaming -- and the 3.16GHz mark is well past that point of diminishing returns.

In case you are not yet familiar with Intel's 45nm Penryn based Core 2 processors, here's a quick recap of the improvements made in the Penryn compared to its older 65nm sibling: Penryn uses Intel’s 45nm High-k metal gate silicon technology, reducing power consumption and allowing for increased clock speeds. More than just a die shrink, Penryn also enhances the extremely successful Core 2 micro architecture with:

• Radix-16 divider
• enhanced virtualization technology
• up to 6MB 24 way set associative L2 cache (on dual core processors)
• up to 12MB 24 way set associative L2 cache (on quad core processors)
• split load cache and improved store forwarding
• higher bus speeds (1333MHz supported, 1600MHz on "Extreme" QX9770)
• 50 new SSE4 instructions
• Super shuffle engine
• Deep power down technology
• Enhanced dynamic acceleration technology

The new E8xxx series of dual core processors are all based on the Penryn core. Here are the currently known part numbers:

• E8200, 2.66GHz, 333x8
• E8300, 2.83GHz, 333x8.5
• E8400, 3.00GHz, 333x9
• E8500, 3.16GHz, 333x9.5

I can imagine many of you out there now saying: "Ok, that's great - but how does the E8500 perform?" 

Let's find out.