Strengths: Speeds up load times when running multiple programs; 64-bit processing; Lower heat output; Good for gaming

Weaknesses: Alot of windows configuring needed to utilize full potential; Tricky to overclock

Summary: This processor makes the job of running several programs at once easier to deal with than what I was used to with previous processors. The 2mb cache helps with that so don't settle for the 4200+. Gaming has been better, clearer, and more stable, but there still could be room for improvement. The down side is that it takes alot of computer skill, with the OS and the hardware, to run it properly. When I got this processor I spent alot of time researching on what's the best equipment available to go hand in hand with it. Thusly, it got pricey, but that was 7 months ago so its probably easier on the wallet nowadays. It's a good processor to get if you can't afford the fx series AMD has out. I recommend it because I've experienced both intel and amd processors and even though I admit intel has better chips for laptops, amd has a lead on the desktop front. In essence the hardware that's out there is coming out faster than the software, so the investment will eventually pay off, which is another added bonus to this chip. Get it unless you can get/afford the Socket AM2 version which has lower power consumption.AMD 64 X2 4400+ Processor (Overclocked to 2.42GHz)Asus A8N-SLI Premium MotherboardATI All-in-Wonder x1900 Video CardCreative X-Fi Fatality Sound CardThermaltake 680W PurePower PSUCrucial Ballistix Memory 512MB*4Sony Dual-Layer CD/DVD Burner Drive*2Western Digital Raptor 150GB SATA 10,000RPM Hard Drive*4

Strengths: FAST

Weaknesses: none

Summary: This is the best. if you want to run fast use what i have.winxp pro x643 gig ram256 ati video pci expressan8 x32 motherboard300 gig sata drivethis thing is fast

Strengths: super power

Weaknesses: overheat with overclocking

Summary: I am runing in over 2800MHz on stress test it ran 2 min on 100% b4 over heating, it ran 9 min on 75%, and it ran forever on 50%, however, i am using NT02 SilverStone cooling tower with 3 added extra fans. I am having the temrature monitor on all the time for ant unexpected programs that takes more than 50% of the CPU for more than 5 min. you can guess it, i have nothing better to da. extreemly stable when at 2400 MHz range. 1.5GB mem 256MB PCI_E overclocked too. WARNNING:you will never enjoy the STD speed again if you taste the overclocked speed.

Strengths: Fast, runs cool, full 1MB L2 cache per core

Weaknesses:

Summary: With this processor installed, my system never slows down. As a side benefit, it runs cool and doesn't consume much power. Even the stock cooler keeps it under 50 degrees load, which is impressive. For those wondering whether dual core is worth the upgrade, the answer is "it depends." If you do non-trivial multitasking you'll see huge performance games. By multitasking I don't mean running Word, Excel, and Winamp at the same time - any computer can do that. If, however you want to encode video while playing a game, or run a virus scan while working in Photoshop, dual core is the answer. In addition, dual core gives you large performance gains on applications designed around dual processors. This includes many photo editing, video editing, and encoding applications. I use Photoshop Elements to edit pictures and Sony Vegas to edit movies - both applications run much more smoothly with dual core. If you mainly use your computer for office type tasks or games, I would get a cheaper single core instead. The cheapest dual core Athlon X2 is around $300 - you can get similar gaming performance with a $200 Athlon 64 3500+. I'm sure this will change in the future, as more games become multi-threaded.

Strengths: Really fast, stable and runs cool out of the box

Weaknesses: A bit expensive compared to Intels dual core offerings but the consensus seems to be that these AMD's outperform their Intel counterparts.

Summary: I run an app that has dual processor support and this thing screams and is rock solid with the OCZ platinum ram it's running with. I don't know how to overclock but this processor is supposed to run supremely when overclocked slightly and might even match the performance of the 4800 x2 when overclocked.

Strengths: easy install, fast processors, 2 cores

Weaknesses: pricey, but you get what you pay for!

Summary: I use this with an Asus A8N SLI premium motherboard. Have not had ANY problems. I am not an experienced computer builder, but I had absolutely no troubles constructing the computer around this processor. I used some type of Arctic Silver as a compound and did not experience heat issues (although of course this thing will run hot!) I felt this processor was a sweet spot between more expensive and cheaper processors. I'm glad I went with it, even if it was more expensive than I originally wanted to spend. I was able to use both processors, assigning tasks to both and increasing workflow. Since this is all new to me, I am still learning the full potential of this processor combined with the Asus motherboard. I did try some minor overclocking with good success, so I'm sure for more experienced users it will be great to go to even higher speeds. I look forward to a time when more software will more thoroughly support dual processor technology as I think it will tremendously increase efficiency. I expect this processor to still provide for what I need for a long time to come. I hope to experiment with video editing in the near future.

Strengths: What a step up! Dual core, hypertransport, relatively easy to keep running cool (thanks to 90nm process technology), FAST.

Weaknesses: Price, but divide it by 2 and you get a pretty good "price per core."

Summary: Stepping up from an old Intel 2.4GHz P4, the Athlon X2 4400+ is a delight. I run several apps at a time and the multitasking performance of this CPU is exceptional. It simply plows through them. Whether I'm streaming audio to a wireless Squeezebox, downloading new Podcasts, playing TV shows, editing RAW images, burning CDs/DVDs, etc., this process manages to handle everything at the same time without slowing a beat.

Strengths: Speed, multitasking, features, 64 bit

Weaknesses: Game playing. At this point, I don't recommend this CPU if you are going to be playing games. It has horrible support for a lot of today's games.

Summary: I've had this chip since November, and I've tried to give both AMD and Nvidia time to fix the bugs, but I'm just sick of all my games crashing, running choppily, and having weird speed ups during gameplay. I've tried every fix on internet forums that are supposed to help my problems, and still nothing has worked. I installed this on a new computer, with a new install of windows. I installed both the AMD X2 driver, and the microsoft hotfix. I've tried lots of registry tweaks, and setting the CPU affinity. I've upgraded and downgraded to different NVidia drivers. NOTHING has worked. All my source engine games crash at random intervals ranging from 5 minutes to two hours. Games like Prince of Persia have moments where the game will speed up 2X so it looks like your playing in fast forward. Also, the sounds will play 10 seconds ahead of the characters (This is not the game's fault, because it didn't do this on my old computer). I'm not alone, because there are lots of people having the same problems, who all have X2 CPUS. I've even had problems running CPU intensive programs, like VMWARE. I've tried to fix it myself, because I love the CPU's performance when I'm not playing games. However, that's 50% of what I do with my computer, so it's not worth the headaches, and the waiting for a REAL fix, just to have a dual core CPU. Hopefully the next time I upgrade my computer, they'll have all this fixed, and I can finally enjoy the benefits of a dual core computer. Until then, I'm downgrading to a regular Athlon 64.

Strengths: Dual Core, supports 32 and 64 bit applications, 939 pin, with 1152kb + 1152kb cache operating at 2200MHZ

Weaknesses: NONE.

Summary: Dollar per dollar, this is the best processor that money can buy. I definitely recommend this processor if you want to multitask, use 64 bit applications, and don?t want to spend the big bucks.

Strengths: This is the third fastest AMD dual core processor and by extension, probably the third fastest desktop processor you can buy.

Weaknesses: Produces a lot of heat.

Summary: I can't say this is overpriced. Ever since I bought it, I've been floored by the performance of this CPU. I have it in a A8N-SLI Deluxe and it churns through all my MATLAB and Mathematica programs with ease. As far as gaming, this will ensure that your CPU is not a bottleneck, even at lower resolutions and with many new games taking advantage of dual cores (Quake 4, Call of Duty 2 etc.) this excels at that as well. Cooling this may be the hardest thing since it essentially has 2 San Diego cores (2.2 GHz with 1MB L2 cache) and this is where I had trouble. My case fans which are controlled by the motherboard nearly always ran at full speed when this CPU was anything but idle. A better case would do this justice.It also might be the second best 'value' in the X2 lineup after the 3800+ (which has a lower clock and half the L2). If you're an enthusiast, also look at the dual core socket 939 Opterons like the 165 and 170 which have the same L2 cache and are quite overclockabe.

Strengths: FAST AS HELL, STABLE, OVERCLOCKABLE AT LEAST 25% if you have a water cooler installed. 64 bit/ 32bit fast compatible. Very , vEry good for games.

Weaknesses: NONE...

Summary: well i'm usint this processor for work and playing lastest 3d games, with my dfi lan party nf4 sli-dr with my 2 geforce 7800gtx 256mb each on sli, is awesome. i think intel must considering to change their entire plataform, cuz like i see the share market on processor is growing at favor or AMD. is a excelent job from AMD. for me INTEL SUCKS!

Strengths: Speed definetly

Weaknesses: Unstable

Summary: I don't know what I have done wrong but I'm having a lot of trouble with mi AMD 64 X2 4400. I had a box working perfectly with an AMD 3500+. I just swap the CPU with the new AMD X2 4400 and with a new Fan (Zalman 9xxx). It started craching.I'have updated the firmware of the mother board, the chipset, fresh install of the OS.. Nothing. I'm still having a lot of unstability. I'm really disapointed about it...MB A8N-SLICPU AMD 64 X2Video 2* 7800 GTXRam 4GBHD 4 * Raptor 72 GB 10000rpm.

Strengths: Dual core, almost no waiting for hourglass

Weaknesses: none other than high price

Summary: Great processor at a fair price. I use a dual core pentium 830 at my office that isn't even close to as fast as this rig.amd 64 x2 4400512MBx4 Corsair XMS PC3200connect3D 256MB X800 PCIEbuilt on Giga-byte GA-K8N PRO SLIEncased by Thermaltake VA8000

Strengths: Multi-tasking, RC5-72, Games, Low-heat loading.

Weaknesses: Care with the OC, this model has too large a cache for much.

Summary: I got this CPU(s) since I have grown accustomed to dual rigs for a decade. The large cache(s) are made for chugging many apps at once and lots of open windows. Gamers who want to OC the CPU should loo

Strengths: Dual core rocks and this is dual core done right. AMD really did right on this one.

Weaknesses: No games currently avaliable to take advantage of dual core cpu.

Summary: This is a great multitasking processor, but unfornately game developers aren't using this technology yet. If your wondering, each core is equivalent to a Athlon XP 3700, which is what your games will run at. The new games coming out soon are supposed to be multi threaded, but who knows when they will be released. I decided to use this processor for work (a lot of multitasking) and bought a FX55 processor for games until Multi threading becomes viable in the gaming community. This processor will not lag with multiple programs though.