Pros: A pair of these is a Supermicro server case makes for a nice system.

Cons: Premium pricing compared to lower models.

Pros: This CPU has a complete surprise. I have 2 of them in a 1U Supermicro server. With the same 10KRPM SATA Raptor drives this machine just crushes a similar 1U server with dual Opteron 280's. 6 min vs 9 min 35 sec for a very large C++ project rebuild. On CPU intensive work it is almost 30% faster. Great value when considering total cost in a server.

Cons: None. Not that much more expensive than the 2.66 Ghz chip.

Other Thoughts: Pin compatible with the quad 2.66 Ghz chip that will be out in 6 weeks. Tough choice between these two. It would depend on the duty cycle and workloads for your server or workstation. There will be no need to look at quad Opeterons for the next year. The pendulum has swung back to Intel.

Pros: Great Chip

Cons: Price

Other Thoughts: There is no need for Hyper-Treading when you have DUAL CORE!

Pros: Amazing! 3GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 4M L2 cache, 65nm process and virtualization support.

Cons: Price. No Hyper-Threading. For $890 you would think you would get more than 3.0GHz out of an Intel chip, but it's good they're moving away from net burst. 64KB of L1 cache.

Other Thoughts: I can't help but find it amusung that just now some of Intel's newest and most expensive chips come with 32KB+32KB L1 cache, while the cheapest and oldest AMDs have 64KB+64KB with the higher end AMDs now available with 128KB+128KB L1. These CPUs are great, but as soon as AMD releases it's 65nm processors next month, they'll be back on top.