That Intel is currently working on new models based on its Core architecture is hardly a secret to anyone, nor a surprise, and six months ago we reported about the coming Core 2 Duo E4300. E4300 was expected to become the new entry model of the Core 2 Duo family and with a lower bus and clock frequency there were hopes of a very attractive price. Now the first benchmarks with Core 2 Duo E4300 have appeared and despite its relatively low frequency at 1.8GHz, 800MHz FSB and 2MB L2 cache the processor performs well. In an unavoidable comparison with E6300 and X2 3800+ the differences are very small overall, even if it’s still Intel’s current entry model that comes out on top.
With rigorous air cooling they managed to push the processor to 3.4GHz, which is quite impressive considering the low stock frequency. We’re looking forward to seeing more of E4300 and especially the price of what seems to be one of the most affordable processors of the upcoming period. More tests and pictures can be found at Expreview (via Xtremesystems).
