AMD Athlon II X2 250 - Athlon II X2 Regor Dual-Core 3.0 GHz Socket AM3 65W Processor - ADX250OCGQBOX

Pros: Great value/performance when building an AMD-based system with a thermal envelope requirement.

Native Dual-core design and 45nm reduces the size of the chip and extra bits of silicon that waste power.

Cons: Currently there is a bug Cool 'n Quiet bug in AMD firmware.

I prefer my heatsinks to be overbuilt so that the system can withstand higher temperatures without having a loud fan. The stock heatsink is quite small compared to what I would prefer.

Overall Review: I understand that most people on this site are enthusiasts, but the purpose of CPUs in general is not to see how high you can overclock them and then complain that Y chip is a better deal.

The fact is: if you have a monetary budget, a thermal budget and need reliability, you buy the best chip available for your needs. In the AMD spectrum this chip blows away the old Athlon X2's, Kuma series Athlons (7750 & 7850) and even some of the first generation Phenom X3's and X4's (for certain tasks). This chip isn't for everybody but for it segment of the AMD market it is a superb piece of silicon.

Pros: Incredible dual core at a great price!

Cons: Mine came with four bent pins in a row on the outside of the chip. I mean bent all the way over. I think it was due to the very hard non-static foam AMD uses underneath the processor, coupled with the fact that they place the processor at the outside of the box. A couple of minutes after the discovery I had them fairly straight again and safely in the ZIF socket, but I was sweating bullets - AND I AM VERY UNHAPPY ABOUT THAT AMD!!!!

Overall Review: Buy it anyway, no way will Intel give you anything as amazing as this at this price.