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| Specifications | ||||
Specifications
The Core 2 Duo E7200 is the slowest speed 45nm dual-core processor released to date at 2.53 GHz stock speed, the next closest offering being the Intel Core 2 E8200 model, which runs at a slightly higher clocked 2.66GHz with a full 6MB of cache. The E7200 processor runs at 5% slower clock speed and has half the cache at 3 MB, but also costs 30% less overall, and is currently selling for around $130, which would be considered high-end Celeron territory previously. The Wolfdale architecture is based on Intel’s latest 45nm manufacturing process, which means the chip runs cool and doesn’t consume a lot of power, even under heavy loads. Intel rates the Core 2 Duo E7200 with a TDP of 65W, although we feel that even this is somewhat conservative, as the chip ran close to room temperature with very low noise cooling. Each of the two processor cores have an individual 64k of L1 cache and they share a pool of 3 MB L2 cache. 3 MB is the smallest amount of cache offered in an Intel 45nm product to date, and this is essentially why many enthusiasts will stay away from this processor. At the same clock speed, we can expect a Wolfdale with a full 6MB of cache to perform 5-10% better under intensive applications (such as gaming). However, 3 MB of cache is still plenty big for many work loads, and as you’ll see in our following benchmarks, the chip still performs within pretty similar levels of the other Wolfdale chips (with larger caches) we’ve seen to date in most scenarios. The positive side of having less cache means that the chip is physically less complex, and in addition to the power and heat benefits that come along with that, it also means that the chips are extremely good overclockers, as we’ll look into later. In addition to having a smaller amount of cache, the E7200 also runs down a notch on its frontside bus speed from the standard 1333 MHz on other current Core 2 Duo chips to a modest 1066 MHz front side bus speed. Don't be too concerned about this, as Core 2 Duo dual-core chips rarely have the opportunity to saturate the front side bus, and you can easily shoot it back up to 1333 MHz if you so choose (and frankly, we would recommend so). It’s still a very modern processor architecture, with support for 64-bit processing, SSE4, top-notch power management and Execute Disable support. However, we should note that the E7200 does not have support for hardware virtualization acceleration and does not support Intel’s TXT (Trusted Execution Technology), which ties in with their enterprise level security efforts. As this chip is targeted for consumer applications, this isn’t all that surprising. Although it’s disappointing to see, as these chips will undoubtedly make their way into low-cost / low-power / low-heat dual-core servers as well. In order to run the new Core 2 Duo E7200, you will need to ensure that your motherboard and BIOS revision support Intel’s 45nm processors, as a BIOS update is needed for most systems that are older than six months. Most platforms in the last year will have BIOS support for this chip but we'd advise double-checking with the manufacturer. The latest round of motherboards based on a new chipset architecture like Intel's P35, X38,and X48 or NVIDIA's nForce 7x0i series should support this chip out of the box. |
| Power Consumption, Cooling and Overclocking | ||
The Core 2 Duo E7200 processor is ripe for overclocking, as it runs at a lower-than-standard front side bus speed for the processor lineup, has very low power consumption by default, and has a low core voltage level. It’s also manufactured on the same 45nm process technology which Intel is using to produce their 3.0 GHz+ Core 2 Duo/Quad core models and sells for upwards of 10x the price of the humble E7200. For testing, we used the massive Coolermaster Gemini II cooling system with low-speed cooling fans. With this cooler, our Core 2 Duo E7200 chip idled at around 91ºF, just a about 15ºF over room temperature. Under heavy loads (at stock speeds) the chip would hit thermals of about 110ºF, which is very good considering the performance possible from this CPU. For overclocking, we cranked the vCore up to 1.4V, which increased the chip’s heat output levels and pushed peaked temperatures up to about 135ºF under heavy load. The end result of our overclocking efforts was a Core 2 Duo E7200 chip running at stable levels at 3.5 GHz clock speed. That’s a 38% overclock with a simple boost to the vCore levels and upping the front side bus speed – what we would consider to be very easy work. Our E7200 chip was actually able to hit 3.8 GHz at its peak, but was not as stable we demand from our overclocks. At 3.5 GHz, we were able to run through all of our tests without issue and pass all of our stress tests. This is a higher overclock than we were able to obtain with the Core 2 Quad Q9300 processor, which is basically the E7200 x 2, showcases that a simple, less complex design can allow for higher peak clock speeds.
Power consumption is rather impressive with the Core 2 Duo E7200, as shown by our charts below. As always, tests are done with a hardware A/C wattage meter testing the full system power consumption (not just the processor). The platforms are identical across the board, only changing out the processors (and motherboards for AMD platforms). Testbed details can be seen on the following page.
 As expected, the Core 2 Duo E7200 consumes less power compared to other members of the Wolfdale family, as it has a lower clock speed and a lower vCore level. At stock speeds, our testbed platform idled at 146W and peaked at 159W, which are very tolerable levels. When overclocking, our system peaked out at 205W, which is pretty impressive for a 3.5 GHz dual-core system with an 8800 GT graphics card, 4 GB of memory, and a 10,000 RPM hard disk. The low power consumption and support for SSE4 extensions means that this chip will likely be popular with the home theater PC (HTPC) crowd. |
| Testbed and SiSoft Sandra | ||||||||
 At its stock clock speed, the Core 2 Duo E7200 isn’t all that impressive in terms of raw computing power. Its arithmetic processing and memory bandwidth levels are low with respect to the rest of our test pack, but that’s to be expected as it’s the lowest priced option in here. The multimedia numbers are quite good, and of course the inclusion of SSE4 support helps here. As you’ll notice, the 2.53 GHz dual-core E7200 chip is able to perform at the same speed as a 3.0GHz E8650, which is based on Intel’s prior generation dual-core technology, a solid sign of improvement in multimedia performance with this new architecture. When overclocked, the Core 2 Duo E7200 at 3.5 GHz is able to outperform Intel’s Core 2 Duo E8500, the fastest member of the “Wolfdale” family to date. |
| 3DMark06 and Cinebench R10 | ||||
  The Core 2 Duo E7200 puts up solid, albeit not too exciting numbers in our synthetic tests. It’s interesting to see its 3DMark06 numbers drop in higher than AMD’s quad-core Phenom processors, which is impressive for Intel’s dual-core lineup. The Phenom’s overtake the E7200 in Cinebench when all four cores are used, but not by a huge margin. When overclocked, this $130 dual-core chip can give performance levels similar to a low-end quad-core machine in many scenarios, such as these. |
| Crysis and Half Life 2 : Episode Two | ||||||||
 With only 3 MB of L2 cache as its data scratch-pad, the Core 2 Duo E7200 suffers in gaming tasks at its stock clock speed. This chip’s benchmarks are certainly taking a hit, not only due to the E7200’s low clock speed but also due to the lower amount of cache. If you’re a gamer, we would recommend going for a Wolfdale chip with 6 MB of cache rather than this 3 MB variant, as gaming is one of the few areas that benefit the most from larger cache sizes. Even at stock speeds, the E7200 still holds its own though. When overclocked, it gives performance similar to high-end “Wolfdale” chips which are about twice the price of the E7200. |
| Adobe Photoshop CS3 | ||||||||
 The Core 2 Duo E7200 certainly isn’t the fastest chip for Photoshop work, but it’s definitely respectable. Photoshop doesn’t make full use of quad-core systems, so a highly clocked dual-core can put up some very solid benchmark results. Photoshop really likes high clock speeds, and such, when we see the E7200 chip overclocked to 3.5 GHz, performance levels are on par with Intel’s lower-clocked quad-core offerings. This is rather impressive for a $130 budget chip. |
| 7-Zip and Divx Author | ||||||||
 The E7200 scores quite low in our 7-Zip compression speed test, which is disheartening. Again its smaller cache size is likely the rub here. However, the chip performs quite good in our Divx video encoding test, thanks to its SSE4 support. While other Core 2 Duo E-series chips share the same SSE4 support, it’s still great to see this budget chip with SSE4 hold its own against last generation’s quad-cores without SSE4. |
| Our Conclusion | ||||
The introduction of the Core 2 Duo E7200 brings the entry point to Intel’s latest Core Duo technology down to around $130, which is a little more than $50 less than what was previously offered. As expected for a chip selling at this price point, its raw performance isn’t mind-blowing fast, but it certainly can hold its own and can be the basis of a very capable machine. The chip is definitely capable and powerful enough for a modern day Vista machine and for gaming/multimedia work, although for any serious workstation or gaming scenarios, we would recommend opting for a higher-speed version of Intel’s E-series “Wolfdale” chips. When compared to AMD, you could pick up a low-end Phenom X3 tri-core processor for about the same price. However, judging from our numbers, we would actually expect the Core 2 Duo E7200 to perform better in the majority of benchmarks.
While it’s also the most inexpensive, it’s also the most environmentally friendly Core 2 Duo chip to be released yet. Sporting a core design built on 45nm technology, a smaller amount of L2 cache (compared to previous generation Core 2’s), and lower clock speed and front side bus speeds, its friendly thermal and power consumption aspects aren’t entirely surprising, although they’re good to see. The chip runs at low temperatures, even with minimal cooling, which leads us to believe that you could build an exceptionally quiet system with the E7200 at its foundation. If you had a large enough passive cooler, it could even be possible to run this chip with no active cooling in a home theater environment. HTPC’s and media boxes are likely the best fit for a chip like this, as most media playback software doesn’t require more than two processor cores and will likely benefit from the architecture’s SSE4 instruction enhancements for encoding purposes. In addition, the E7200's thermal characteristics mean that you could shove the chip into a cramped case with less than stellar cooling and it would likely manage just fine. Should you decide to put a massive cooler on top of the chip as we did, you will be rewarded with excellent overclocking abilities. As we mentioned before, our sample chip was able to hit 3.8 GHz in our labs (3.5 GHz stable) with a simple (but large) air cooling system. Around the web, others who have chosen to push the chip harder with water cooling have been able to see clock speeds well into the 4 GHz range (some even into 5 GHz territory), so there is plenty of room to achieve a higher-performance platform if you’re willing to put some work into it. All in all, the Core 2 Duo E7200 is a nice dual-core chip considering its price point. For a basic desktop or low-end workstation, it would make for a very nice system build considering how cool and quiet it will run. It’s not a beast in the benchmarks, but holds its own and will be the basis of some very capable budget-class dual-core systems in the market.
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