Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 / 3 GHz processor

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 ... more

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. The message is as clear now as it was then, 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 applications which will utilise 4 cores effectively? Or the majority of end user programs which will run far faster on this processor than on an equivalently priced quad-core. Not only that, but it will run cooler, and can therefore be overclocked higher, and so also has a lower power rating. More efficient, and faster? This really is the only choice. My only specific comments are that, firstly though it runs cooler than a quad-core, if you're going to be overclocking, you really will ned an aftermarket heatsink and fan. With the stock heatsink it does run at a decent temperature, but you may want to have more cooling power even if you're not overclocking. However, to end on a more positive note, this was the easiest processor I've ever had to fit - the pinless LG775 socket design is really a brilliant interface, relieving you of the worry of accidentally touching one of the miriad pins that AMD processors use. 

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