Benchmark Analysis

The performance of the Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 is extremely good, but it has both positives and negatives because of its dual core nature. Gaming benchmarks are off the chart, and at 3.16 GHz, the Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 set new performance records in several areas. This proves that dual core is still the best for pure gaming value, as this is where the sweet spot is, even including those games that support multi-threading.

Multi-threading support is much more prevalent in desktop applications than games, and basic everyday tasks like file compression, image editing, audio-video encoding, and even reading mail, offer increased performance through multi-threading. This is where the Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 falls back a bit, and can lose significant ground to a high-end quad core like the Core 2 Extreme QX6850 or QX9650.

Overclocking

The Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 is an absolute dream to overclock, and it's so easy a monkey could probably do it. Our prime voltage turned out to be 1.41V (plus a +0.10V boost to the chipset), and with this we went as high as 4.47 GHz using a 471 MHz FSB. Any higher than this, and we could still boot, but random glitches and lock-ups would occur. This speed was also consistent with different air-cooled heatsink-fan units, from the stock Intel model to higher-end copper-based Zalman coolers.

Total System Power Consumption Testing

The Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 may run at over 3 GHz, but its 45nm dual core architecture translates into a TDP of only 65W. The 45nm Yorkfield quad core posted some impressive power consumption numbers, and the dual core Wolfdale should be even better.

In order to measure power consumption, we took each of the AMD and Intel reference systems, ran the outlet through a Power Analyzer, and then compiled total system consumption figures (in Watts) for Idle and Load scenarios. In order to keep the systems and results consistent, we used the same configuration for the AMD and Intel processors as listed on the Test Systems page.

The first test measures the total system power usage when the AMD and Intel processors are set to power-saving mode. For AMD, this means enabling Cool'n'Quiet, while for Intel we need to activate Enhanced SpeedStep. The test was performed after the operating system has loaded, and all of the various software and hardware components have initialized and we hit a consistent power reading. The first set of results has the Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 system at 114W, a good total, but still behind some other Athlon 64 X2 and Core 2 Duo models.

The second test changes the operating conditions from Idle to Load, and the SANDRA Multimedia CPU benchmark pushes processor usage to 100%, while ensuring that no extraneous hard drive or peripheral activity artificially ramps up the power consumption rates. The results using SANDRA are also incredibly consistent, with the wattage numbers remaining stable through the entire test.

The Core 2 Duo E8500 posted the lowest power total under the Load environment, and at only 161W, this is one power miser of a high-end processor. To put it in perspective, the Wolfdale at 3.16 GHz uses less power at load than a 2.66 GHz Conroe.

Please keep in mind that these numbers relate to total system power consumption, of which the CPU is only one part. In evaluations like this, relative placing is sometimes more important than the base numbers, which can change based on the platform and peripheral mix.