Intel Core i3-3240 Ivy Bridge Dual-Core 3.4 GHz LGA 1155 55W BX80637i33240 Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500

Pros: One of the cheapest Virtualization-ready processors out there. I threw it in an ITX case, paired with an $80 mobo, and have been running an incredibly stable Server2012 on there to host my projects. No ECC ram necessary. no extra cooling necessary, just incredibly cheap and reliable!

Cons: none

Overall Review: Paired with a motherboard with a Broadcom NIC (ASUS P8H61-I R2.0) that supports Windows Server 2012 R2 and using the single PCIe slot for a SAS HBA Card going to an external JBOD. This is more than strong enough for a demo, and could hold a dozen VMs under light load.

Pros: It's fast. It's cool. It's reliable. It has hyper-threading. As someone who doesn't need a quad core processor for any of the day-to-day tasks I do and was on a bit of a budget building my first hackintosh I'm quite happy that I skipped the I5/I7 and went with this I3. I do mainly photo scanning, editing in PS, music recording in Logic and a bit of WoW. This thing has been able to power me through all of it with no issue. For the price you're getting one heck of a processor.

Cons: None to speak of.

Overall Review: I was a bit hesitant at first because when I purchased this it was brand new to the market, there were no reviews. I'm glad I went with it. I truly am. Unless you're playing the latest titles at ultra settings or doing 3D rendering or video encoding at 1080p on a daily basis this thing should be sufficient for most people.

Pros: Fastest by GHz in class, cheaper but solid model in the core series. One of the best cheaper processors for a media PC, for normal computer, or small personal server uses.

Cons: Actually worse than the 3225. This processor is essentially a slightly faster version of the 3220.

Overall Review: If you're going for more oomph, you're probably better off upgrading to the i5 series for quad core with more MB cache. The 3225 is better for a non-discrete graphics solution, because the 3220 and 3240 has Graphics 2500, which is considerably less capable than the 4000 that is the standard on the i3 3225 and most i5 series. Although it takes a few months into product lines to flesh out all the different models, at this point, anyone might as well wait for the 4th gen i3 that hits somewhere around May-June 2013. Still, if you need a processor now, and don't care about the best integrated graphics solution, pick up the i3 3220 instead of this 3240. It's almost $50 cheaper on average, and has the same stats except for 200MHz or so.

Pros: Everything! great price hyper threading just amazing powerful fast cpu!

Cons: Stock cooler but we all know that

Overall Review: bought this for an htpc system in living room and just love it, buying another to build a system for my sister

Pros: For the price, this thing flies. I have it installed in a build for every day tasks, Skyping, video watching, etc. Integrated graphics handle these things just fine. Multitasks with ease. Runs cool with stock fan. I do not feel that I need to buy anything additional.

Cons: Doesn't save me money on my car insurance.

Pros: For the price, a steal. This processor has the same architecture as the ivy bridge i5/i7. The execution is about the same, but the downside is that there is much less L3 cache. For medium gaming, games don't tend to use more than 2 cores anyway (it is very difficult for programmers to efficiently multithread games in a way to take advantage of 4 cores). Runs very cool with stock cooler as well, sips power. Using this processor and a fairly dated card (GTX 260), I'm able to play everything quite comfortably.

Cons: None so far, perhaps the lack of a K series i3? Which is kind of pointless anyway... The only cons to this processor are the reasons why you would step up to an i5 or i7.

Overall Review: This i3 was for my HTPC build (Mini-ITX) with some gaming. My main rig is an i7-3770k @ 4.5 GHz with a HD 7950 overclocked well paste 7970 clocks. Main rig blows this out of the water, as it should. But for the price, I am extremely satisfied! Great budget processor!

Pros: Upgraded from a Core2Duo era rig with a E8600 chip. Real world performance is about 3x improved. Instant improvement in all games, quieter fan, happier dude.

Cons: None. Not at this price.

Overall Review: Bang for the buck.

Pros: Runs cool, High powered, Integrated Graphics runs GTA 4 very well.

Cons: None, People who say its not good for its price should have bought an i5 not i3. If you want to play heavy games i would suggest an i5. i3 runs starcraft, GTA 4 and other games very well.

Overall Review: Great buy for a entry level pc.