This year Intel plans to greatly expand the Core 2 Duo family by introducing at least eight new processors. Surprisingly however, only two of these new processors are planned to be clocked higher than the existing E6700.
The E4300 and E4400 models are set to become the new lightweight kings. With a suggested retail value of $130 and $150 in the second quarter of this year, they are also going to be very affordable. Furthermore, due to the more limited 800MHz FSB, these processors should be able to work with a much broader range of chipsets and perhaps more importantly, overclock like mad. While the price of the E4300 is expected to fall to $130 during the 2Q, it is currently selling for around $170, pricing it very close to that of the E6300. The price drop is one of those things that is said to be happening eventually, but whether it will or not is anyone"s guess.
The E4300 is not listed on Intel"s website yet and is still waiting to be officially introduced. That said, I was amazed to find two weeks ago, it was possible to purchase one of these processors in Australia from online vendors. Without wasting any time we snapped up an E4300 so that we could put it to the test, the overclocking test.