Core 2 Duo E8300 vs Celeron G440

The Core 2 Duo E8300 packs 2 cores / 2 threads, while the Celeron G440 offers 1 cores / 1 threads — the Core 2 Duo E8300 has 1 more core. Boost clocks reach 2.83 GHz on the Core 2 Duo E8300 versus 1.6 GHz on the Celeron G440 — a 55.5% clock advantage for the Core 2 Duo E8300 (base: 2.83 GHz vs 1.6 GHz). The Core 2 Duo E8300 uses the Wolfdale (2008−2010) architecture (45 nm), while the Celeron G440 uses Sandy Bridge (2011−2013) (32 nm). In PassMark, the Core 2 Duo E8300 scores 1,039 against the Celeron G440's 1,035 — a 0.4% lead for the Core 2 Duo E8300. Geekbench 6 single-core — the metric most relevant to gaming — records 345 vs 300, a 14% lead for the Core 2 Duo E8300 that directly translates to higher frame rates. L3 cache: 0 kB on the Core 2 Duo E8300 vs 1 MB on the Celeron G440.

The Core 2 Duo E8300 uses the LGA775 socket (PCIe 1.1), while the Celeron G440 uses LGA1155 (PCIe 2.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard. Both support up to DDR3-1333 memory speed. The Celeron G440 supports up to 32 GB of RAM compared to 16 GB — 66.7% more capacity for professional workloads. Both feature 2-channel memory with ECC support. Both provide 16 PCIe lanes. Chipset compatibility: P35,P45,G33,G31 (Core 2 Duo E8300) and H61,B65,H67,Z68 (Celeron G440).

Neither processor supports overclocking. Both support VT-x virtualization. The Celeron G440 includes integrated graphics (HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge)), while the Core 2 Duo E8300 requires a dedicated GPU. Primary use case: Core 2 Duo E8300 targets Budget, Celeron G440 targets Budget. Direct competitor: Celeron G440 rivals Pentium G630.

The Core 2 Duo E8300 launched at $163 MSRP, while the Celeron G440 debuted at $37. At current prices ($20 vs $5), the Celeron G440 is $15 cheaper. In terms of value (PassMark points per dollar), the Core 2 Duo E8300 delivers 52.0 pts/$ vs 207.0 pts/$ for the Celeron G440 — making the Celeron G440 the 119.8% better value option.