Overclocking
For our overclocking tests, we swapped our Core 2 Duo E6700 engineering sample for a retail E6300 we've had up to 3.3GHz without extra voltage or cooling. Initial overclocking tests were conducted with SpeedStep enabled and the E6300's default 7x multiplier.

To get things started, we scaled back each board's memory speed to take it out of the equation. Next, we started turning up the front-side bus speed, testing for system stability with Prime95 and the rthdribl HDR lighting demo along the way.

470MHz on the P5N-E SLI

We made it all the way up to 380MHz with the P5N-E before Windows became unstable. However, pushing the north bridge voltage up to 1.5V quickly resolved that problem, and we were able to get the P5N-E all the way up to a 470MHz front-side bus speed—stunning for a board that costs just $120. 480MHz wasn't stable, even with additional voltages all around.

An extra 10MHz on the Striker

480MHz was stable on the Striker Extreme, but only with extra chipset voltage. We also had to install the optional chipset fan to get the board stable at front-side bus speeds above 460MHz.

Curious to see whether lowering the CPU multiplier would allow the Striker to hit higher speeds, we disabled SpeedStep, set a 6x multiplier, and renewed our assault on the front-side bus. Unfortunately, lowering the CPU multiplier didn't help; we were still unable to get into Windows with a 490MHz front-side bus, even with up to 1.6V running to the processor.

We've actually had this E6300 stable with a 490MHz front-side bus on one of Nvidia's reference boards for the 680i chipset, so it's unlikely that the CPU is holding the Striker back.