CPUs > 100 GBP to 199 GBP CPUs > by Socket

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: Fast, quad core, cool running, guranteed G0 stepping
Disadvantages: Q6600 can be had for half the price for only 266MHz less performance

...can confirm this using the Intel Processor Identification tool on their website. G0 means it runs cooler than the older B3 stepping but also is bound to overclock more. The bad news is that i's 2x the price of a Q6600 for only 266MHz more performance. As long as you can get yourself a G0 stepping Q6600 there doesn't seem a point in spending double on this Q6700, unless you want the 10x multiplier for something. Anyone who does video/audio editing, ...
...extra cores will profoundly be delighted with this CPU. It makes such a more sensible buy than going dual core. Games and program that don't take advantage of all cores will steal yield a snappier system as the Operating System can spread the load more evenly so you can play a game + encode a video all at the same time without it impacting performance. Boxed versions come with a 3 year warranty, OEM versions come with whatever the merchant offers, ... Read review

Advantages: Dual-core performance for true multi-tasking
Disadvantages: Price a little bit more, but makes sense.

...in today's mainstream notebook PCs AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ / 3.2 GHz processor has given me a sigh of relief. So what's it bringing with itself? AMD64 technology brings your notebook PC to life with dual-core performance, superior graphics, and wireless technologies from AMD's technology partners. It's everything you need for an enhanced Windows Vista™* experience you can take with you anywhere and coming with a price that makes sense. # Key features ...
...and wireless capabilities from AMD technology partners ~AMD PowerNow!™ technology for performance on demand and extended system battery life ~Enhanced Virus Protection** (EVP) helps protect against certain viruses, worms, and other malicious attacks ~HyperTransport™ technology boosts overall system agility so applications are more responsive and deliver incredible performance # Compatibility wise: AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processors for notebook ... Read review

Advantages: Blistering speeds
Disadvantages: Ideally needs Vista 64 bit but few software compatibility probems

Intel have really got it right with this CPU. It was easy to install and runs like a dream. To take real advantage of the power of this CPU it really needs the Vista 64bit version and there are few software compatibility problems now so it is worth taking the plunge. I've never seen software install so quickly on a PC as with this processor and running Windows updates, background tasks, processor hungry games etc. just doesn't have an impact on the ... Read review