Conclusive thoughts

Reaching the final stage of this article, we have come to a point where we have to make up our minds: Is the E8500 worth the money? Let's sum a few things up, starting by checking some prices (geizhals.eu):

• E8500: 228€ - 3,17G - 13,90 G/€
  
• E8400: 160€ - 3,00G - 18,75 G/€
  
• E8200: 147€ - 2,67G - 18,16 G/€
  
• E6850: 211€ - 3,00G - 14,22 G/€
  
• E6700: 255€ - 2,67G - 10,47 G/€

In comparison to the early C2D series, the 45nm processors are definitely worth the money as the MHz/price ratio of the E6xxx-series is much lower than the ratio of the 45nm series. Price and performance is better, certainly as even with moderate overclocking skills you'll be able to push you processor beyond 4GHz without any problem. Looking at the other E8xxx processors, the E8500 is not the best when it comes to price/performance ratio, but as it's released as the top-dog in the series, it's expected that the price is a bit higher. It seems that the E8400 might be a better choice, especially for the people who want to have the best bang for buck.

Let's sum it all up:

+ Low Heat Output = no extravagant cooling needed to run cool & quiet.
+ Excellent overclockability
+ Faster than a evenly matched 65nm Intel processor
- Relatively high prices
- In some test not really that much faster clock for clock compared to its 65nm brethren.
- FSB walls due to insufficient support by motherboards

In the end, I believe this CPU recommended for high-end systems. For the best dual-core setup, you cannot find better than this processor, for the best price/performance dual-core setup, you should consider the E8400.

Intel Core 2 E8500 Recommended for


We'd like to thank Alternate.be for their help in making this review possible, until next time!