Intel Core™2 Duo E7200 Processor Review
September 1st, 2008 | This article was viewed 2,766 times so far...
My Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2140 died on me about 2 weeks back while I was benchmarking the Gainward Bliss 9800GT cards, and so I bought the E7200 for my replacement processor. 
Why did I choose the E7200 over the E8xxx series? Because I was on a budget constraint.
Why did I choose the E7200 over the E2xxx or E4xxx series? Because I wanted something more out of it.
The E7200 stands between the greater and the lesser range dual-core processors.
Now, allow me to present to you the specifications of the contending processors for this review.
| Model | Intel Core™2 Duo E7200 |
| Core Code Name | Wolfdale |
| Fabrication Process | 45nm |
| Voltage | 0.85v ~ 1.3625v |
| TDP | 65.0w |
| Frequency | 2533Mhz |
| Level 1 Cache | 32KB x 2 |
| Level 2 Cache | 3MB |
| Front Side Bus | 1066Mhz |
| Multiplier | 9.5 |
Performance & Overclocking
I’ve managed to overclock the E7200 to 3.62Ghz. 8.5×425Mhz based on BIOS but the CPU-Z records 8.5×426Mhz.
The processor was run at stock and overclocked state.
- E7200 (2.53Ghz / 533 Mhz RAM / 266Mhz bus / 1066Mhz rated FSB)
- E7200 Overclocked* (3.62Ghz / 850 Mhz RAM / 425Mhz bus / 1700Mhz rated FSB)
*Overclocked = Will be abbreviated as OC
The Intel processor was paired with Albatron PXP35 and The following are the results from the tests I’ve conducted
Super PI 1.5 Mod
The value chosen for Super PI was 1M.
| E7200 | E7200 OC | ||
| 20.922 | 14.547 | ||
| * Lower the better | |||
As you can see from the results above, it’s performs well in comparison to the AMD counterpart. Realistically speaking, you can’t feel the difference between both processors BUT on benchmark, it’s clear who is the better processor. Looks like on stock, the Super PI performance is already faster than my former processor at 100% overclocked state.
CINEBENCH R10
| Processor | E7200 | E7200 OC |
| Rendering (Single CPU) | 2733 | 3912 |
| Rendering (Multiple CPU) | 5172 | 7483 |
| Shading (OpenGL Standard) | 3794 | 5532 |
The benchmark was done with default settings. Here’s where you can download MAXON CINEBENCH R10.
X264 HD
The x264 HD Benchmark is a benchmarking tool created by graysky, a contributor at TechARP.
Simply put, it is a reproducible measure of fast your machine can encode a short, HD-quality video clip into a high quality x264 video file. It’s nice because everyone running it will use the same video clip and software. The video encoder (x264.exe) reports a fairly accurate internal benchmark (in frames per second) for each pass of the video encode and it also uses multi-core processors very efficiently. All these factors make this an ideal benchmark to compare different processors and systems to each other.
| Processor | E7200 | E7200 OC |
| v0.58.747 (1st Pass) | 27.95 | 40.57 |
| v0.58.747 (2nd Pass) | 7.4 | 10.63 |
| v0.59.819M (1st Pass) | 31.32 | 45.63 |
| v0.59.819M (2nd Pass) | 8.27 | 11.88 |
Looks like the gains are really significant after overclocking the processor.
Thermal Performance
| Processor | E7200 | E7200 OC |
| Idle | 33°C | 38°C |
| Load | 49°C | 53°C |
The stock heatsink performs fine despite being shorter that the one provided by the E2140, as seen in one of the photos provided. Being shorter also meant overall lesser surface area for heat dissipation.
In the overclocked test, the processor was paired with Sunbeamtech Core Contact Freezer and using Tuniq TX-2 thermal paste. The Sunbeamtech Core Contact Freezer was fanless.
The casing used was CoolerMaster Centurion 590, with an additional fan installed at the top of the casing. During the overclocked test, the additional top-mounted casing fan tuned down a little, just to see how it fares.
The processor overclocked well, still surviving despite 18 hours Orthos stress test. I’m sure it has potential to reach higher overclocked speed.
Conclusion
What’s there to complain about the processor? I’ll ever complain on a processor unless you’re not getting that good of a performance from what you paid for.
The E7200 worked great out of the box and even greater after overclocking. I highly recommend this processor for anyone who finds the E8xxx series slightly beyond budget.
September 1st, 2008 at 9:47 pm
WOW!! I thought upgrading my AMD Sempron 3800+ to this..but im not sure it is worth it or not since a new line of Intel is coming out. After reading this..It makes me wanna upgrade it instead of going for the new line..I assume it will last me 4yrs even if i overclock it?Mobo + Proc + HSF + Casing i wonder how much it will cost..hmm..
Anyway..nice review!!
September 2nd, 2008 at 4:39 am
wah nice!
budget n performance intel!
@RJ
if u got enough money go for intel la…teh different of performance vs amd damn alot…
but i still prefere my x2 5000+ BE, Value n good enough for modern gaming
still can oc to 3.2ghz!
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:50 am
Actually AMD processors are fine. the X2 5000+ BE is one of the popular units in fact.
As for me, I was short of $$$ but the E7200 fit the bill well. Good thing I have experience in OCing so pushing the E7200 to work better than higher priced processors does help a lot.
September 7th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
E7200 is simply the biggest bang for the buck. Max It magazine in its August 2008 edition recognises this.
September 9th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
in my opinion its the next e2160.
and im gonna upgrade my e2180 to this next.
if the budget permits that is.
September 9th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Yeah, I was looking at the processors available. Going from E2140 to E2180 doesn’t feel nice to me. So I decided to add a little bit and get the E7200.
I think it’s worth it. the E2xxx series are overclockable but the generally stripped-down make it lose out on the speed.
September 9th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Another new 45nm processor from Intel: Pentium Dual-Core E5200; 2.50GHz (200×12.5), 800MHz FSB, 2MB L2 cache. Already a big jump compared to the 65nm E2220 (2.2GHz, 1MB L2)
I don’t check for the price yet (if it’s already available here) and I’m curious to see how would it perform in comparison to Core 2 Duo E7200.
September 9th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
correction: the E2220 is 2.4GHz.
September 9th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Yeah, saw the E5200 on price list already.
The thing is this, at 800Mhz FSB with 12.5x - you’re going to hit limitation if the multiplier remains at 12.5x imagine 12×300 is already 3.6ghz.
It is about RM 90 cheaper than E7200 but stock vs stock, it loses out quite a lot when you combine the lesser Mhz, Cache and FSB.
the lower FSB on the other hand, I think gives it quite a headroom to overclock.
September 11th, 2008 at 1:27 am
[...] Intel Core™2 Duo E7200 [...]
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:19 am
I have a question.
Do you claim warranty for the fried e2140???
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:10 am
1. It wasn’t fried.
2. I claimed warranty
3. I haven’t send it in.
October 6th, 2008 at 11:05 am
[...] goldfries: 1. It wasn’t fried. 2. I claimed warranty 3. I haven’t send it in. [...]
October 7th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Wah, goldfries nice try. I might bought this E7200 to replace my old pentium D processor which served me well so many years. By the way, i might seek ur help about OCing. Hope you can assist me.
October 12th, 2008 at 1:52 am
Sure thing!
October 12th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
if gangus khan had a choice, which processor would he choose?
October 12th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
gangus khan? who’s he? assuming he’s to take over any kingdom, he’s gonna need a lot of firepower. so quad-cores could be the better choice.
if he was to run simulation on horse-back riding and how to take people down, or simulate combat in 1st or 3rd person style viewing, dual-core would be great. On the other hand if his planning /simulation involves masses of armies, looking like the game Supreme Commander - then yeah, quad-cores again.
October 15th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Hey!
I recently got the E7200, it was a fantastic upgrade from the casual E2140.
But the thing is, the heatsink is so thin! I wonder if they cut corners or whatever.
Still, I have the confidence of putting 1333MHz FSB onto this processor. But it went up to 55 degrees C and above. LOL!
This is the processor for many mid-range gamers like me.