CPUs > 3 GHz and more CPUs > 2.0 MB and more > LGA775 Socket > 100 GBP to 199 GBP

Advantages: Cheap, fast and cool
Disadvantages: it's not a quad core, £130 may be too much for some

It took a while for Intel to wake up and smell the prices of AMD shares recently (AMD being Intel's main competitor). After years of AMD taking bite after bite out of Intel's market share with innovative, efficient, fast and affordable processors, Intel finally did something about it and released the Core 2 processor. The dual and quad core CPU's completely blew AMD away and AMD still haven't caught up two years later. The Intel Core 2 E8400 is the ...
...advantage of quad cores and Intel has released it's next generation architecture called Nehalem, it's well worth saving your money - with the E8400 costing less than £130, it's value for money, especially if you're overclocking, is undeniable. Whether you're buying a new system with an E8400 in it or upgrading your existing system, the E8400 should be top of your list. ... Read review

Advantages: Fast, good overclocking potential; the best for games (and virtually all other applications)
Disadvantages: Runs fairly warm, but nothing terrible

As a gamer, I needed the best processor out there. Searching around, the only real debate in this price range was whether to go for the E6850, a dual core CPU, or the Q6600, a quad core at a lower clock. After looking at many different benchmarks and reviews, the answer was clear - the higher clocked part (the E6850) was a more power processor, giving better performance in games, and better performance in most ofther software applications as well. ...
...6 months ago when I bought this product; current applications do not need 4 cores to run quickly, especially games. If I was particularly interested in video editing, then I may have gone for a quad-core, but for my purposes it wasn't nescessary. Not only that, but I have used video editing software on this, and it will render incredibly quickly - I was blown away. So, the upshot is - what do you need to use your computer for? A few specialised ... Read review

Advantages: ideal for intense computing environments
Disadvantages: none

...unbelieveable performance and The Dual-Core Intel Xeon processor 5100 series is ideal for intense computing environments, 32-bit and 64-bit business-critical applications and high-end workstation and Analysis in my mind Dual-Core Intel Xeon processor 5100 series-based platforms are expected to deliver up to 2.25 times the performance and 2.35 times the performance/watt of previous-generation dual-core Intel Xeon processors and realiable performance ... Read review

Advantages: Intelligent Power Capability
Disadvantages: none

These new processors deliver amazing performance and power efficiency.With four execution cores, the Intel® Core™2 Quad processor blows through processor-intensive tasks in demanding multitasking environments and makes the most of highly threaded applications. Graphics Video works Just SUPER.Keep it cool, and you should be able to do some over clocking. I turned my ASUS auto overclocking off since I really dont need to over clock (& void the ... Read review

Advantages: Cheap, Powerfull
Disadvantages: Small L2 cache

This is brilliant processor for its small price. In fact i like it so much, im writing this review using it right now. It is really easily over clocked using the right mother board. Personally, i have overclocked to 2.5Ghz using a cheap Gigabyte motherboard and an arctic cooling freezer 7 pro heat-sink fan unit. I have found that it is brilliant for multi-tasking. Even the programs that heavily use CPU power are done with ease on this powerful little ...
...obviously depending on case cooling and heat-sink fan, its not too bad. In my computer i have 3 additional 80cm fans for cooling as well as the heat-sink fan and im peaking at 45 degrees Celsius. The only disadvantage i can see with the CPU would be the L2 cache size. At only 1GB its not as fast as the Core 2 Duo CPU's but at this price its worth it. ... Read review