Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 69W BX80637E31230V2 Server Processor

Pros: The Ultimate processor solution. This thing is an i7 without the useless bells and whistles that go unused in a gaming rig. For the price of an i5, you get the hyperthreading without the added bulk of integrated graphics, which means cooler CPU, and less power needed. I use this to play everything from GPU bound games like BF3, to CPU bound games like WoW, and it doesn't flinch. I recommend this to anyone building a gaming rig. you just can't beat the price/vs performance.

Cons: Having to explain to your friends that you have a Xeon.

Overall Review: Why are you still reading, when you could be in checkout buying this.

Pros: Performance of a I7 at the cost of a I5. If your not going to overclock and your going to use a dedicated graphics card this is the chip of choice since it does not include the integrated graphics of a I5 or I7. This results in a cheaper cooler running CPU that costs less.

Cons: "Offical" consumer motherboard support. While this works great most manufactures will not offically support this processor in desktop motherboards.

Overall Review: Since you can not overclock this processor save your money and go with a H77 chipset motherboard. Paired this with a Asrock mobo with no issues.

Pros: I would give it 7 eggs if I could. All cores get busy in a hurry, especially when gaming. But it sips power and behaves like an i7 with virtualization. I'm glad I read about this. I'm using this in an MSI Z77MA-G45 for gaming along with a GTX-760. The Windows Experience Index calls this proc my weakest link @7.7.

Cons: 01 Steal a dog from your local park. A nice one but not too nice. 02 Walk into a pub and complain to the barman about money problems and how you'd sell this rare, prizewinning hunting spaniel in a moment to be able to make ends meet. 03 Ask the barman to watch the dog and go up the road a while. 04 Have your mate come in after you and offer to buy the dog for tons of money. 05 Return later and reiterate your willingness to sell the dog - the barman will try to take advantage of your financial woes in obtaining this "prizewinning" dog from you for nothing so he can punt it on to your friend for huge money. 06 Take his money and leave 07 Split it with your friend. /con

Overall Review: I'm glad I bought this.

Pros: Fast. Price is right. If you were planning to build an Ivy Bridge i5 system, forget it and buy this instead. The only downside to this is the lack of on-chip video, but is that really even a downside?

Cons: Having to explain to your friends why you're running a Xeon.

Pros: FYI - It runs on H77 Motherboards in addition to Z77 Motherboards. Running on an 80 buck MATX ASROCK board in a HTPC (stereo component clone) case and it's marvelous.

Cons: No fault of the CPU... I finally found something that brought my rendering and CPU crunching to it's knees the other day. Sins of A Solar Empire - Sins of a Galactic Empire Starwars Mod Running the processor paired with a GTX 660 Ti (due to 7.5" length and such in my case). Fired up the Large 551 planet or so map. Noticed lag and video processing that started immediately and became intolerable about 4 hours in. Space battles stuttered and looked like I was killing my machine.... The Video card couldn't handle it. To its credit, the processor flawlessly rendered the combats and controlled the AI and battles even with all the graphical chop. SO, cpu = awesome. 660Ti.... Not cutting it.

Overall Review: This is the first time I ran out of legs on this machine after hammering it, non stop, for over a month. Looks like I'm going to have to give the old Phenom II 4.0 Ghz (in my den) the boot, literally. Buy one of these and toss it in the Z77 ASROCK board I just picked up and then see how the 680Ti I have in there fares. I used to be an AMD fanboy, and lord knows I love me some good competition for fair prices on hardware and all... But GOOD LORD!!! These things make my AMD processors look so bad, I never want to go back to using AMD. Leaving me with a buttload of AMD stuff from ASUS ROG motherboards, 8120s, Phenom II's and such. Looks like I need to start building and donating machines to charity.

Pros: If you're going to run discrete graphics, then there is little reason to have integrated GPU on the CPU. Once you've made that decision, the Xeon E3-1230V2 offers enormous value in terms of its abilities. 7.7 WEI score, 10115 passmark CPU score. My system was built specifically as a home CAD workstation (Solidworks primarily), and it does exactly what I need it to do. Processor runs cool as well on the stock heatsink/fan. 26-27C idle, 39-43C during moderate workouts.

Cons: Absolutely none. Although as someone else mentioned, you'll get lots of people questioning your choice of choosing a Xeon processor.

Overall Review: I paired the E3-1230V2 to an MSI Z77A-G41 motherboard, no issues recognizing the CPU correctly or with setup.

Pros: Great processor, low wattage for the power.

Cons: None come to mind.

Overall Review: I have this CPU paired with a Supermicro MBD-X9SCM-O LGA motherbaord. Running ESXi I have 17 virtual machines running. This processor was an upgrade from the i3-2120T that I was using(for the purpose of a low wattage server). Awesome processor. Has really aided me in building the infrastructure that I need to support pentest efforts.

Pros: Very nice little upgrade over the XEON E3-1235 Sandy Bridge we use in our solidworks workstations with ASUS P8B-WS (LGA 1155 Intel C206). Nice value and expect good things once present dilemma is resolved.

Cons: WARNING! Be mindful of your MB's BIOS and compatibility. I am installing this on an ASUS P8B-WS (LGA 1155 Intel C206). It has a pre 2009 BIOS. The catch is you can't POST with this CPU to upgrade your BIOS. The CPU was on the ASUS compatibility list with BIOS 2009. Board came with previous BIOS and so won't post. A little more digging came up with the following link. http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/detail.aspx?SLanguage=en&p=1&m=P8B%20WS&cpu=Intel%20Xeon%20E3-1230%20v2%20%283.3G,L3:8M,4C,4C,HT,69W%29&pcb=ALL&sincebios=2009&memo Bear it in mind