"If you are currently looking to assemble a new computer, there is no better CPU choice to the Pentium E2000 series (in every aspect!). C2D E6420 and E6320 do have a greater overclocking potential, and we also explained why they are faster. However, the Pentium E2000 series seems to be the best buy. One way or another, it's all about the money you have at disposal, so the choice you should make in this category should not be thought about too much. If you are a gamer, the E2000 is a smart choice (as you can invest the rest of the money into a faster graphics card), whereas if you need raw processing power, the E6000 is the ultimate choice."
"At default speeds its true that this model is a low-end part, lacking the required Mhz oomph to keep up with the high end units, but it has a nice trick up its sleeve, the lower FSB (and hence the higher multiplier) is a blessing for those willing to wander into the overclocking area. You dont need an expensive motherboard to go with this CPU, any Intel P965, P35 DDR2, NVIDIA or ATI powered board will do, as long as they can reach ~350Mhz FSB (which should not be a problem). My E2160 sample was not hand picked, and reached 3Ghz easily with stock settings, to get to 3.3Ghz I had to increase vcore by a measly 0.05v. Temperature wise the stock Intel cooling was sufficient, with load temperatures never reaching disturbing heights.
If you dont want to experiment with overclocking and want out of the box performance, the E2160 doesnt do bad either, while it lags the more expensive E6300 is some areas (file/audio/video compression) in others its pretty much on par (games). Intel is phasing out the E6300 model for a newer one, the E6320 which features 4Mb L2 cache, the retail price for that one is ~140, which is not a bad deal of course, but still features the low 7x multiplier."
"While we have no problem recommending an E2000 series processor, as it is very powerful and speedy for the price, there is no denying that if you were to spend a little extra you could get a much better system. You will want to work your motherboard/CPU/videocard combo, and see how you can stretch the budget as needed, we are glad to have the new Pentiums."
"All in all Pentium E2160 and E2140 processors made a great entrance. They have pushed the performance of budget solutions to a totally new level. With the price of less than $90 and promising Core micro-architecture these processors can become a great basis for contemporary low-cost systems. From this standpoint they look much better than the Pentium D processors on NetBurst micro-architecture that used to be the only offering for this segment. Of course, the performance level of Pentium E2160 and E2140 processors doesnt look as mind-blowing as that of their Core 2 Duo counterparts."
rated: --
published: May 30 2007
Previews
website
publish date
notes
article quality
There are currently no previews. Click below to submit one.
"Intel has been in the headlines for performance of its high-end processors for over a year now and there seems to be no stopping of that anytime soon with overclocking and all added into the equation. As explained in the article, you don't require any exorbitant cooling, or a high-end motherboard or memory for that matter. Any ordinary system can pull this off as long as the motherboard offers the necessary FSB clock control and at no extra cost, you get almost double the processing power! So if you are talking about value for money, absolutely nothing beats this."
"At <$100, getting a dual processor that will clock to over 3GHz - 3.2GHz with our sample - is nothing to sneeze at. Sure, AMD has even cheaper parts - the AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ comes to mind - however there is no question that this chip will outperform it for number crunching and gaming. The X2 4200+ which is at the same price point at stock does outperform the E2160 for business applications; however once we overclock the E2160, again, its no contest.
I simulated the E2140 to see how that chip would perform, but frankly, the loss of the 9x multiplier would stop me from buying a E2140 for any system I would overclock as the E2160 I was reviewing did not like high FSB speeds, so that extra multiplier is very important in obtaining good overclocks.
Regardless of the less than expected overclocking potential, I have decided to give the E2160 the "Value" award - it is still a great performer for a great price."
forums
4.50/5.0
