bit-tech Shopping: Intel PENTIUM DUAL CORE 2x 1.60 1M 800MHz

Rating: 10

Time with product: 2 Months

Strengths: Affordable

Weaknesses: None

Summary: I purchased this processor as part of a general upgrade of my system (from a Pentium 3.0 Ghz). There are no inherent, visible weaknesses as my computer runs smoothly. The best advice that I could give to someone looking to upgrade their system (and their processor) is to not go crazy choosing from, say a 1.6Ghz Core 2 Duo and a 1.8GHz, etc. processor. Being an average -- and not a gamer, etc. -- user, the savings does not appear to come at the expense of any noticeable slow-downs or sluggishness.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 3 Months

Strengths: Price and Performance

Weaknesses: Cache

Summary: First time overclocker. Clocked to 3.0 on Abit IP-35e on air cooling [zerotherm BTF-80]. May be able to get more yet. Stable for 3 weeks now. Great Bang For The Buck!!!!! 3.0 g for $93.00 WOW. CPU vtt 1.21 CPU Core 1.34 31C no load around 50c w/prime 95 [almost stock voltage too].

Rating: 8

Time with product: 3 Months

Strengths: Runs Cool, Good Overclocker, Nice Price/Performance ratio

Weaknesses: Heat sink takes a bit of getting used to (installing)

Summary: This was my first dual-core purchase for a low-end budget machine. If it's your first time installing the heat sink, you may want to search youtube for the instructional video. Even without the heatsink properly attached (when I didn't realize it), my fresh windows installation ran without a hitch! A very durable processor.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 1

Strengths: Affordable budget priced Dual Core that can hit performance of much more expensive Core 2 Duo

Weaknesses: Less than ideal level 2 cache on die

Summary: Excellent entry level Intel dual core processor. Even though it's called "Pentium Dual Core", it's the same as the Core 2 Duo processors, just with 1mb cache shared by 2 processors. It is a little light in terms of gaming performance due to L2 cache deficiency, but it can be overclocked to over 3Ghz with capable motherboard and memory. At 3Ghz speed, it'll be a great performer with a low price point. Get this one if you intend to overclock, otherwise get something with more L2 cache such as E4500 or E6600

Rating: 8

Time with product: 7 Days

Strengths: Core 2 Duo architecture

Weaknesses: Low frequency and cache

Summary: This is the lowest end desktop dual core processor based on the Core 2 Duo architecture that Intel makes. As such, it has all of the advanced features like dual-core, shared L2 cache, and 4-issue execution core. Unlike its bigger brothers, the E2140 has to do with only 1.6GHz, 1MB of shared L2 cache, and no vitualization support. However, for most tasks, you will hardly notice the difference. Bioshock runs very well with this processor when paired with a Geforce 8800GT, since 3D games are limited by the graphics card these days. At around $70 retail, it is a steal for so much processing power. Pair it with a good P35 motherboard, and you leave yourself room to upgrade to a better processor in the future when they become affordable.