Customer Reviews
Awesome Performance 
2008-02-05
I upgraded from a single core CPU and this thing rocks. The seller also hooked me up with a quiet Zalman fan. Was easy to install and mine came with thermal paste, which was helpful. No problems with reliability or heat. Got a socket 775 motherboard that supports single core, dual core and quad core, which makes my machine semi-furtureproof.
Careful with the heatsink 
2007-07-07
This is a great processor for the money. As many other reviewers have stated, it is easy to overclock this baby. There is a problem though, and that's why I gave it only three stars.
I had a little heat problem at first, and since a lot of reviews seemed to indicate this processor runs fairly cool, I figured that I must of messed something up. After looking around on line I discovered that its fairly common to not get all four of the heatsink clips in to the mobo. After reading this I went around each of the clips in sequence about three or four times and sure enough one of them popped in a little more.
It is highly recommended that you install this CPU and its heatsink before putting the mobo in to the case, as you can then visually confirm that the clips are all securely in place.
Nice Processor 
2007-05-21
By the time I bought this one the best US$/processing now I think the best may be the E6600. I'm satisfied with him. But if you have the bucks go for the E6600.
great! 2007-05-17
for the price this little chip has been awesome. and the heatsink is a breeze to put on compared to old ones I've put on before, no fear of putting a screwdrive though your brand new Mboard.
Great product.... 2007-03-21
Do I have to say that this is another truly great processor fomr Intel, I would buy the E6600 2.4ghz though, extra 2MB Cache goes a long way,
Been running this with Asus P5W dh & P5n32-Sli Premium and no problems with this chip, the P5W Dh Deluxe gave lots of problems though.
a fabulous overclocker 2007-02-06
PC users are running multiple, intense software applications simultaneously, increasing demand on hardware resources. In the office, PC usage has changed from data entry and word processing to e-Commerce, online collaboration and an ever-increasing need for continual security and virus protection. In the home, interests have shifted from low-bandwidth photos and Internet surfing to downloading and viewing high definition videos, as well as advanced photo and video editing. The Intel Core 2 Duo processor was developed to meet all these demands.Built on the innovative Intel Core microarchitecture, the Intel Core 2 Duo desktop processor delivers revolutionary dual-core performance and breakthrough processor energy efficiency. With Intel Wide Dynamic Execution, Intel Smart Memory Access, Intel Advanced Smart Cache and Intel Digital Media Boost, this new processor is designed to do more in less time. Additional features to support enhanced security, virtualization, and 64-bit computing make the Intel Core 2 Duo the most impressive new processor developed for an increasingly multimedia-centered, high-definition world.Design changes in the Intel Core 2 Duo processors that improve performance also increase processor energy efficiency by operating at lower frequencies that require less power to run. Intel Intelligent Power Capability optimizes energy usage of the processor cores by turning on computing functions only when needed. This more energy-efficient processor supports smaller, more capable, and quieter desktop PC to conserve critical power resources.
Great performance for the price 2007-01-16
If you're looking for a CPU with great overclocking potential, take a very close look at the E6400. With a decent motherboard that allows overclocking functions, anyone with a basic understanding of tweaking the BIOS can take the E6400 from 2.13GHz to 3.2Ghz on stock air cooling.
I've paired the processor with a Gigabyte DS3 motherboard, and on air cooling, I'm able to hit 3.2Ghz running dual Prime95 instances at 2+ hours with no instability issues whatsoever. At these speeds, I'm able to run Super Pi tests as follows: 18s 1M, 43s 2M, 1m43s 4M, 17m19s 32M.
It Rocks 2007-01-03
It is the best CPU ever made, I always love intel, and now I`m crazy in love for it.
It screams 2006-09-30
I have this processor mated to an Intel DG965wh m/b with 1G DDRII 4300 memory and an ATI All-IN-WONDER X800 XL PCI-Express video/TV card (256Meg). It replaces a 3.4GHz Pentium D 945 with a NVIDIA AGP card. The Core 2 Duo processor is really fast. It uses half the power of the Pentium D processor, and thus runs cooler at the same time. It got the following benchmark scores:
At screen resolution of 1024 X 768 it scored:
3dMark 2001 = 21,342
3dMark 2003 = 11,223
3dMark 2005 = 5,098
PerformanceTest 6.0 PassMark = 710.5
SiSoftware Sandra Performance Rating : PR7246 (estimated)
The processor is fast. Although Performance Test indicates a Hewlett Packard XW8300 Dual Xeon 3400 is faster on some of the math and disk I/O, my system's CPU Mark is 11% higher than the HP and the overall Passmark rating is 20% higher. (The Xeon is faster on integer math, floating point math, encryption and compression, and the Core 2 Duo is faster on find prime numbers, SSE, image rotation and string sorting.) I've rarely been able to peg the processor at 100% CPU usage except when running a benchmark. I do not have the hard drives in a striped raid configuration, which would speed up disk I/O. Nor have I overclocked the chip. (My motherboard is pretty boring!) Apparently, it can run at a much faster speed on the right motherboard.
A friend of mine is a systems engineer with a very large wireless phone company. (He manages about 100,000 PCs.) He said this processor was at the "sweet spot" in the present Intel line. By this, he means this is where you get the best bang for the buck. As of the writing of this review, the fastest Intel Extreme Core 2 Duo processor (with twice the system cache and 25% more raw horsepower) costs nearly $1K, or 5 times as much. For basic home or office use, and most gaming, this processor will serve you very well.
If you are looking for the fastest processor you can get, I would wait several months until the Core 2 Quad chip is released with four processors instead of the two as it will be about 70% faster than the Core 2 Duos, and the price of the faster "Extreme" Core 2 Duo Processors will no doubt drop. Particularly if you upgrade often, this is very good for the price and should hold you over until then.
