Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 - Core 2 Duo Conroe Dual-Core 2.4 GHz LGA 775 65W Processor - BX80557E6600

Pros: This CPU is sitting at the optimal Enthusiast Performance/Price point in the Fall of 2006.

Uses the LGA775 socket, which will also accept Quad Core CPUs in the future -- so if your Motherboard will get a BIOS update for Quad Core (My Asus P5B Deluxe already has one), then there will be a really GREAT upgrade path for Intel hardware such as has never happened before in the history of Personal Computing.

Wide range of stable operating parameters. (Intel has re-acquired my Enthusiast respect!)

Cons: The Stock cooler was a little difficult to install correctly in my motherboard (Asus P5B Deluxe), and the thermal paste that comes pre-applied on the heat sink is not very good. I had to reseat the cooler after applying better thermal grease (Like Arctic Silver) in order to get my temps down. (They were initially in the low 70 C range under light load, but came down to the low 40 C range after these minor efforts.)

Overall Review: It is difficult to find ANY information on safe operating temperatures for the Core2Duo series, but many users seem to think that 35-61 C might be reasonable under idle and light loading, with 70's OK for brief periods. The "throttling back" temperature is apparently set by Intel in hardware at 85 C.

The freeware WinXP program "Core Temp" (Beta v0.93 by A. Liberman) opens the hood and tells you the temps of the 2 cores directly inside the CPU package. These sensors are reportedly what Intel uses to determine if the chip is overheating and needs to be "Throttled back."

Some folks report seeking only stability with this chip and not being too worried at all about the resulting temps since Intel is already monitoring and (reportedly!) has a plan to protect the cores. On the other hand, I have NOT seen anyone writing to say that they have actually seen these CPUs throttle back and protect themselves from overheating!

Pros: Fast, I use it with my 8800 GTS 320mb, 680i LT mobo, and 2gb G.skill ram

Cons: I'm not quite whether it was the mobo or the processor, but out of 3 duplicate orders, 1 mobo/proc combo didn't work. Swapped components from the other two around, and couldn't pin down what it was, so sent both back for a refund. No problems with the refund or the refunded products

Overall Review: The problem I had was that the monitor was receiving no signal from the computer, and looked up many sites trying to figure it out, but ended up returning it, and the new ones worked fine