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: Wow. I cannot even begin to emphasize how fast these things are. Even when using programs that don't take advantage of multi-threading, these chips seem to somehow find a workaround and blow me away in terms of performance.

Cons: Price, but it was well worth the money. Overclockers will want an aftermarket heatsink, but even so the stock heatsink works fine. Mine runs at about 45ºC with the stock cooler at stock speeds.

Overall Review: Upgrading to the Core 2 Exterme X6800 is completely unnecessary and a waste of money. This will do everything you need for xxx$ less. And if you really feel your need the performance of the X6800, overclock this baby. With 4MB L2 cache, the sky is the limit.

Pros: I recieved a week 28 and hit 3.01Ghz at stock voltage. 3.4Ghz took 1.40v. This thing multi-tasks like nobody's buisness. I considered myself a diehard AMD guy, but after seeing the E6600 beat the AMD FX-62 in almost every benchmark combined with the awesome overclocking potential of this chip... I had to see what Intel was up to. I don't regret it one bit!! Idles 42c @3.01Ghz, load temps 54c using Orthos and CoreTemp. My entire computer is soooo quiet. Extreme Performance and Silence... what else could I ask for?

Cons: none

Overall Review: Can't go wrong... a real powerhouse!!

Pros: Been running this cpu with an ASUS P5B mobo for almost 6 months now and 3 Geil dual channel sticks, no OCing. I'm a musician and run software that are CPU and disk killers. Typically I am running music projects that read 12 wav files simultaneously from disk, processes them with effects, 6 MIDI channels converted to audio, all sorts of professional sound modifications and audio compression based on application plugins, converts all of that to one stereo audio stream ALL SIMULTANEOUSLY AND IN REALTIME. No problem whatsoever. Hopefully, that gives you an idea of the power here. Also, for the first time ever a virus scan occurs while I'm using the computer and I don't even know it's doing it. Yes, I like it.

Cons: Doesn't make coffee in the AM.

Pros: Take your motherboard out, lay it on a couple of pieces of cardboard. You can then install the heatsink without worrying about breaking your board. Push down two pins at a time; like an X, top-right bottom-left, then top-left bottom-right. Once you get all the pins down it's actually a good heatsink.

Cons: No bubble wrap.

Overall Review: For an easy overclock, just set the FSB to 1333 (333.33 x 9). That got mine to 3 ghz, and I didn't have to mess with the voltages.

Pros: It's fast and stable. Stock cooler keeps works well. (see cons)

Cons: Stock cooler is hard to attach. Once one corner is on, another pops out. Took a while to get it on correctly.

Overall Review: THe stock cooler cools it well enough if you're not overclocking, but I would reccomend getting an aftermarket one anyway because of the quality of the fasteners.

Pros: Overclocks easily. I've got mine on stock heatsink/fan and getting idle temps of 34c. Currently running at 3.32ghz. I didn't mean to overclock it that high, I was shooting for a modest 2.6 or 2.7, but missed a digit somewhere and it doesn't

Cons: the stock heat sink doesn't really connect to the motherboard very securely. Be careful installing, and the arrows on the plastic screws indicate which direction to turn to remove it, not to set it in place. Also, originally it was running very hot, but I dropped the voltage down a bit in my BIOS and it's staying cool now. I currently have mine at 1.325 v

Overall Review: e6600 c2d @ 3.32ghz, ddr2 850mhz 5-5-5-15, 7950 GT KO 600/775

Pros: Fast, Dual core, doesn't cost a fortune

Cons: Not Quad?

Overall Review: I never buy bleeding edge because id shoot myself when I see the price drop 300$ in 2 months. So I bought this. Haven't found anything that can slow it down I can even play 2 games at once. 3.42ghz gave me a 15 second super Pi score and it runs at 32c with a 92mm copper zalman cooler. Upgraded from a 3500+ I'm not a fan boy I just buy whats the best at the time and this is it.