Strengths: the front side bus on this computer allows it to overclock to over 4 ghz

Weaknesses: this is much slower then the current line of intel processors

Summary: I love this cpu, its give me huge bragging rights. I use a thermaltake black case and thermaltake water cooling system, my current power supply is a cheapo 450 watt model so hopefully it will work well for what i'm doing. I only have a crappy x600 video card, but its mostly just for show and eventually i'll spend the bucks on a SLI system

Strengths: This is a smokin little processor that goes up to 4.1GHz, this is possible by increasing the FSB of the cpu from 533 to ???

Weaknesses: The heat produced is insane, water cooling is necessary for the project.

Summary: I use a thermaltake black case and thermaltake water cooling system, my current power supply is a cheapo 450 watt model so hopefully it will work well for what i'm doing. I only have a crappy x600 video card, but its mostly just for show and eventually i'll spend the bucks on a SLI system

Strengths: dual core

Weaknesses: sucks up a great deal of energy

Summary: decided to give this a try for the price at $130 is unbeatable for performance although it does not run hot it releases alot of heat??? i have overclocked it to 3.6 without issue at 1.35v but decided to go back to amd because my little room could not take the heat a barbaric processor in terms of performance, heat, energy consuption found a new home in my kids htpc.

Strengths: Acceptable performance after overclocking, relatively quiet stock fan, inexpensive

Weaknesses: Heat. AMD products are still better.

Summary: Had to try a dual core chip to see what it was all about and this one was cheap - I can see why.Runs kinda warm with the supplied fan and heatsink at the rated speed (I'm used to AMD's cooler temps). Actually slower than my single core 2 ghz Opteron machine using the same OS, Windows, at stock speed. Equal after an overclock.22 July - Got Linux loaded finally; wasn't the processor but the Intel brand motherboard (D101Ggc) I initially paired the chip with. Changed to an Asus board (P5P800-VM). Board's built in video is lacking in speed - added an AGP card.25 July - OC'd to 3.2 ghz to get an acceptable level of performance. Running Xandros Linux Premium Desktop.

Strengths: Highly over-clockable

Weaknesses: None

Summary: I saw information that this CPU is over-clockable to as high as 4.1 Ghz. For this price (plus added cost of good quality cpu cooler), it's a bargain. Does take some work and patience, but you'll be happy. Using an ABIT NI8 SLI socket 775 motherboard. Not the most tweakable but the combo cpu/mb price was right.

Strengths: Price, overclocking potential

Weaknesses: None

Summary: This is the cheapest dual-core processor available which has 64 bit support and a good amount of overclocking potential. It is almost guaranteed to reach 3.33 GHz simply by increasing the FSB to 166 MHz on a simple motherboard with the stock cooler and no voltage adjustment. This is what I did, and I have a 64 bit, multiprocessor computer for a very low price running cool and stable at 3.33 GHz. This is the nice part of my experience. However, based on my experience, this processor needs higher voltage and a lot of power to reach 4 GHz and beyond. If you are expecting to reach 4 GHz and beyond, you need high end motherboard, cooler, and power supply to satisfy the power and heat requirements. And, obviously, the capable processor :) If you are an overclocker looking for a challenge, this could be fun. For the rest, I would not recommend spending all that money to these high-end components just to try overclocking this cheap processor to the limit.

Strengths: Price, Clockability,

Weaknesses: none

Summary: Runs at 20x locked multiplier, (revB0) simply add DDR400 ram (pair) and raise the bus speed from 133 to 200mhz instant 4.1ghz !!! add a casefan use stock Heatsink ! cooool ! runner...use vcore of no more than 1.6v

Strengths: Best combination of price to performance for multitasking. You probably will get better performance from a faster single core P4 with more cache if you tend to run mainly single threaded apps.

Weaknesses: Only has 533 mhz bus and 1mb cache. Tends to run hot. Multiplier locked at 20x.

Summary: You can't beat this dual core processor for multitasking if price is an object. A faster single core P4 with 800mhz FSB and 2MB cache will probably outperform this solution if you run mainly single threaded apps that don't take advantage of the dual core ability. Many audio/video encoding apps take advantage of this chip and perform significantly faster. You will need adequate power and cooling components for this chip. The 90nm Smithfield architecture tends to demand higher power and produces significant heat. Buy a motherboard that supports dual channel memory and get matched memory modules. Dual channel memory tends to offset the disadvantage of the slower 533FSB and smaller cache.

Strengths: Extreme Overclocker, Cheapest Dual Core available

Weaknesses: Runs Hot, Lower Bus speed, Lower multiplier

Summary: This is Great Dual Core CPU for a budget system. You can not beat the price for this performance. You just need a decent motherboard and good memory and this thing overclocks like anything. For the price of Athlon X2 3800+, you can get this CPU, a decent motherboard and good RAM. So far I am really happy with it. I am just concerned a bit about the temperature though.

Strengths: Great price for a Pentium Dual core processor. Good overclocker.

Weaknesses: Only 1 Mb Cache for each core. Not 2 Mb like the Pentium D 9xx. Not great for games.

Summary: Price, Price, Price. This is a great deal for dual cores. The low front side bus (533) lets you overclock easily. I would definitely toss the stock heatsink and get a better performing cooler. From the money you save on this processor be sure to get a good motherboard. Be sure to check with the motherboard manufacture to see if the board supports this processor.

Strengths: Very fast processor; price is very reasonable.

Weaknesses: Heat sink mounting system is poorly designed.

Summary: The Pentium D 805 is an outstanding processor. You essentially get two Pentium 4 2.66 ghz processors for around $130. This processor is very quick, especially when multitasking. Really, the only complaint that I have is with the heatsink mounting system. The heatsink/fan that is included in the retail package is very large, and appears to be well made, but the mounting system must have been an afterthought. The heatsink is held in place by four plastic rivets; it takes a large amount of force to get the rivets to seat in the motherboard, and it is difficult to determine when the rivets have actually locked. In addition, the mounting holes are very far apart, and there really isn't anything to stiffen the board between the holes and the processor socket, so installing the heat sink caused the motherboard to bend at least 1/8 inch in the center. Other than this problem with the heatsink, this processor is really a great value.

Strengths: Highly overclockable, excellent price/performance ratio, dual core.

Weaknesses: Current AMD dual core CPUs offer more raw processing power, but nothing is offered at this price point. Not the best choice if price is not an object and you only run single threaded apps.

Summary: Probably the best CPU value on the market today. Great for someone who is looking to get into dual core for multitasking or for use with multithreaded apps, but wants to keep the costs down. It?s an excellent choice for audio and video encoding apps that take advantage of multiple cores. Great overclocker. YMMV, but most seem to be able to get somewhere from 3.3ghz - 3.9ghz on air. You will want a decent power supply and higher end cooling if you plan to run it in the upper range of its capabilities.

Strengths: Very overclockable, wide vCore range 1.25-1.4 stock. Intel Absolute Max vCore rating is 1.55v. Cooler than other 90nm Pentium Ds. Easily runs at 3.2GHz on stock voltage. 64-bit capable, supports SSE3.

Weaknesses: 533MHz FSB. 90nm 'Smithfield' technology runs much hotter and uses significantly more power than 65nm 'Ceder Mill' chips. Multiplier is locked at 20x. (Can't use 14x) Requires good case airflow.

Summary: This CPU is one of the best deals around, as of April of 2006. For less than $150, you can break into the world of dual-core and 64-bit computing. However, to get the most out of this processor, using a case with a 120mm rear fan is highly recommended, as without adequate airflow, this monster will heat up very quickly. I've heard reports of idle temps as high as 60C. With a little ducting work and a 120mm rear exhaust and a low speed 80mm intake on the front, idle temps are now in the 30's using the stock heatsink and load temps are in the 50's. I've overclocked my processor to 167 x 20 = 3.33GHz so far on stock voltage and stock cooling and it has been rock solid. Sadly, you cannot ignore the low default FSB, as this has become a major bottleneck in realworld system performance. This is evidenced by memory performance not scaling linearly with clock speed, and certain benchmarks not increasing in a linear fashion with increased clock speeds. Using a motherboard that can utilize dual channel memory will help this problem dramatically, however.

Strengths: This dual core rocks multitasking. I thought I was going to lose a lot of speedy with the downgrade in the frequency (2.66) vs. 2.8, however can't tell the difference. Well worth the price.

Weaknesses: The 775 T-sockets usually run hotter than other sockets, however this one doesn't seem to run as hot (FSB?)

Summary: The $130s to $140s is a steal for this quality dual core processor. The stock fan is a bit difficult to install, however I still had not problems installing it. I definitely recommend getting this processor if you are building a PC on a budget.

Strengths: Overclocks easilyLow Heat

Weaknesses: None!!

Summary: Unlike the other 800 series this bad boy has low heat and easily overclocks to 3.2Ghz and is rock solid stable. I've been tossing everything I can at it and have yet to have a issue with heat or crashes