Pros: I love this processor!
After I got my cooling issues sorted out and discovered that my stock Intel heatsink and fan were not securely fastened to my motherboard I'm surprised that I never had problems with this thing in the 4 months before I discovered what was happening.
I finally decide that the stock HSF isn't worth saving and so I bought a CNPS9500 AT aftermarket cooler from Zalman.

Cons: Intel has a bad heatsink fan design lately, so if you are getting this CPU just go ahead and buy an after-market cooler too if you even think you might overclock.
While you are at it, go ahead and pick up a tube of Arctic Silver 5 too.

Other Thoughts: If you are in the market for a Core2 Dual Core then just buy one of these.
It has the large 4MB L2 cache instead of the 2MB and that will make the same processor behave about 10% faster according to most benchmarks.
I would buy one again.
My 2.4GHz is now living life as a 3.6GHz, and it is stable.

Pros: Installed very easily. I would have rated higher if I didn't know there were better processors out there.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: My old server had a P4 1.7GHz and ran at 100% most of the time. This new setup runs at 25% load. My MB is a Asus P5M2 with 4 GBs of RAM.

Pros: Well known reliability of a server based chip that runs on desktop motherboards. This is your E6600 Core 2 Duo equivalent. Will work on any core 2 duo motherboard. Overclocks to 3.15Ghz (350Mhz FSB) without any increase in voltage, and no noticeable heat increase even at full load.

Cons: None that I know of.

Other Thoughts: For a few extra bucks you can get the dependability of a server chip on your PC.

Pros: core 2 duo E6600 equivalent, real fast at stock speeds (2.4Ghz), stock heatsink pretty quiet even at load, temps are real low - in the 20s/30s celcius, overclocks like mad (3.6Ghz for me) and could push it higher but dont want to lose the 1:1 ram ratio.

Cons: only con is that this is only a tiny bit more expensive then its consumer counterpart, core 2 duo E6600 (core 2 duo is consumer chips, xeon is server chips), thats about it. i paid only 10 bucks more, but thats it. there are no physical flaws or anything like that. its practically flawless.

Other Thoughts: i couldnt believe that this overclocked up to 3.6Ghz (400x9) very easily. just needed to up the vcore to 1.40, set my vmem to 2.1v (max rated under g.skills warranty), and the ram ratio to DDR2-800. seriously, this is the best bargain you could get. i got a F batch/stepping processor, which ive read that its not that great for overclocking but its actually really good. ive slapped on an ac freezer 7 pro heatsink (also from newegg) so the temps can be even lower. lastly, this chip works in any core 2 duo supported mobo (just like the opteron 165/170/175/180/185 series and how it worked just fine in any amd socket 939 board). just make sure it has the latest bios to support it.

Pros: Pricing is outstanding, sub 300 for a cpu with a 4mb L2. Excellent speed even for those not looking to overclock, like the machines you'd see in a more professional environment that this cpu was targeted for. I've used many Xeons (as far back as the pentium II's) in workstations and this cpu carries with it product maturity and solid reliability that makes it worthy of carrying the Xeon name.

Price to performance is outstanding on this cpu.

Cons: none that I can see.

Pros: Decently priced, and an excellent buy.

I'm not sure how much better or worse this is compared to it's C2D brothers, this cpu moves.

I could not be happier with the performance.

Cons: None complaints really. I wish intel provided a larger cpu fan.

I guess that's what newegg is for.

Definitely upgrade your cooling before oc'n.

Other Thoughts: Works great with my Asus P532-E SLI Plus mobo.

Pros: Very fast chip stock. Very good overclock from it. testing at 3.2ghz stock Vcore as I type this. (I usualy run it 3.45ghz @ 1.45V, but seeing what it can do stock..)

Cons: Wish there was a cheaper chip with 4m.. not really a con i spose.

Other Thoughts: Dont be fooled. From my experiences a Xeon will clock just as good and high as a C2D.. doesnt seem to be any advantage, more or less pick of the draw. So essentialy get what evers cheaper at time of purchase (e6600 or 3060)

Pros: *VERY* fast, great value. The 2MB cache version is not worth the savings. The 4MB L2 cache adds 10% when at the same clock and multiplier in many applications. Then throw in the 12% clock rate boost, and you have a much faster CPU than the lower-clocked versions with smaller L2 cache.

Very energy efficient. Able to run with very low temps with fans quiet in server.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: Newegg was great (as they have always been for me). My server died on Wednesday night when I turned it off because of a thunderstorm. When I tried to turn it back on, the motherboard was dead. Used PCI diagnostic card and determined memory controller on old motherboard was not able to initialize itself. Ordered from Newegg Thursday morning, received new SuperMicro motherboard, Intel Xeon 3060, and Kingston ECC DDR2 800 Friday afternoon. Server back up Friday evening. Thanks Newegg!

Pros: great, runs really cool 35 Celius under full load i am using zalmon CNPS 9500 during no load around 26 never seen that low temp before

Cons: price

Other Thoughts: this baby run like *****, i am using MB:MSI p6n sli fi, Ram 2 g Kingston Hyper, XFX 7900Gs extreme graphic card, 150 GB WD raptor at 10000RPM New egg rocks

Pros: Man this thing is blazing fast. It used to take me 15 mins to unrar a full 4.5gb movie with my Athlon 3000+ but now it only takes me around 2!!! Booted up just fine on my Asus P5B Deluxe.

Cons: Seems to run a little hot. Speedfan says around 39-40c under normal operations, but that just might be my trailer cause I like to keep it around 70-72 degrees. I might not have put enough Arctic Silver on before I slapped on my Zalman 9500. I'm not worried about it though since this is the Xeon version of the E6600 and that's why I paid the extra 11 bucks.

Other Thoughts: This thing is actually so much faster than my old cpu I'm going to wait awhile before I bother overclocking it. I simply do not need to right now. It's so fast!

Pros: This core 2 duo XEON processor has more headroom than the standard Conroe, because its main purpose is for servers.
With little effort could clock it to 3.2G.

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: Runs cool (50 C) with stock cooler.

Pros: Great processor; priced on par with E6600s, stable at 3.73GHz on a Scythe Infinity with Silverstone FM121 fan, 1.475v. Temperatures are manageable when overclocked, but watercooling is always a nice thing to have when jacking voltages near 1.5v for daily use.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: This is NOT simply a rebadged E6600. I'll tell you why: Xeon 3000 series CPUs are server-grade, and as such are more stringently tested and certified to take more abuse in the form of constant high temperatures (like you'd see in hotbox stress testing, >80C); however, do not take this to mean "Xeons will inherently overclock better than similar week Core 2 Duo counterparts". This may be true in some cases, but the gains on a Xeon are negligible at best

For example, a week 30 Xeon 3060 and a week 30 E6600 will very likely (not always) overclock similarly when testbed conditions are replicated as closely as possible, obviously. This CPU isn't superior to an E6600 in terms of performance, but there's just something appealing about having a server CPU on a desktop board, and in some cases the more stringent testing of Xeons yields better overclocks than on a similar batch E6600.

Pros: Very powerful processor.

Cons: As far as I can tell, these processors are not the 'Opteron' equivalent of the Core 2 Duo. I found that the Xeon 3060 did not clock as well as the E6400 and E6600. It is also not as stable at Core 2 Duo's overclocked. Mine will not go past 411Mhz FSB.

Other Thoughts: When you buy this processor, you are simply paying for the Xeon name. The FPU and SMID instructions are identical to the Core 2 Duo. There is no binning here folks.

Pros: Got 3.6ghz @ 1.55V. Bought open box for thirty bucks cheaper than retail, spent money on Zalman 9500 cooler. Runs VERY quick. Alot faster than my e6300 @ 3.2ghz 2m cache.

Cons: Thought was getting OEM, actualy got open box lol. Oh well, it has a warranty i spose. hrm.. guess con is it doesnt do 4ghz? hehe

Other Thoughts: Still hate intel as a company, wish this was an AMD chip, but oh well they are slacking what can i say.......

Pros: Great chip, same pros as the Core 2 Duo's. Possibly binned for better performance.

Cons: This processor is the exact same chip at the Core 2 Duo E6600. There is no FPU or SMID instrustion difference. You are simply busy a re-branded, more expensive Core 2 Duo E6600. You are paying extra for the name.

Other Thoughts: There is an unconfirmed possibility that this family of processor is simply the cream of the crop from the batch. Time will only tell if that is true.

Pros: Gets her done, in a hurry. Have mine running rock solid at 3.4 and 1.4V, air cooling. Sure, it was fast at 2.4, now it's faster yet. I do a lot of graphics and CAD, this has made those jobs much less dreadfull. Compared to a 3 year old 2.53 Pentium, 50MB files open and render many times faster, depending on exactly what you are doing. Haven't been able to get 3.6 and run stable yet. Would have been nice, but I'm not complaining. Idles at 40-43º o.c.ed and never hits 50º working. Ran about 10º cooler at stock 2.4 and stock voltage.

Cons: You will not like working on (using) older systems anymore, this CPU will spoil you badly.

Other Thoughts: It seems like cases are made more for boys and girls who want lights and case windows. I wanted a mid-tall black case with out a front door, and a front USB panel mounted low. Couldn't find one on Newegg. I almost sent this back, but used it anyway to get the new system built. I was willing to pay for a good case, but ironically this cheap one was configured closest to what I was looking for.

For extra cooling on an overclocked Conroe, I added a Vantec 120mm fan in the front, plus a 80mm fan on the side panel where the air intake was (same bolt pattern, no modifications needed). With the two factory fans, plus 2 added, there is plenty of noise.

MB - Asus P5 DH Deluxe *** CPU - Xeon 3060 Conroe 2.4GHz *** RAM - CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 *** CPU Fan Zalman CNPS9500 fan *** 2 Hard drives - WD1500ADFD Raptor *** Video Card - ATI X1950XTX *** Case - COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP *** Power Supply - FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX500-A *** DVD bur

Pros: Rock solid stable at 3.4 Ghz. has much more room.....

ASUS P5W DH and Crucial PC 6400 the rest of the Formula.

Cons: None The Price Difference between the e6600 = $12.00 Best Money I ever spent.

Other Thoughts: Overclocking Wonder 1 Ghz O/C easy as pie.