Intel BX80605I5750 2.66 GHz Core i5 Processor-64 bit for Server and PCs - Multi-Colour

First off, I know that this review is super late, over a year overdue, but that is because I wanted to hang back to see how things stack up after a years continuous use, and well, here I go.This processor is the first quad core processor that I've ever used, so my experience with multi core processors is very limited, and it's also a part of the first system that I've ever built, so again my knowledge of CPU's is very limited, but, having said that, this thing is s*** hot!Lightning quick, and blows out of the water and clean off the planet every other processor I have ever used, whereas it would take my old laptop several hours to encode a film, this does it in a paltry 30 minutes flat at stock, and where the old laptop and my mums old prescott desktop wouldn't play any games at all because they were too slow to do it, even Mega Drive games couldn't play through emulation because the laptop was too slow to emulate them, this flys through them like they're nothing and barely works up a sweat while doing it, and converting music is done in seconds instead of minutes like what it used to, and recording using FRAPs is into the 45/50 plus fps rather than the 5/10 fps that I used to get.It's a monster overclocker, I've had 3.8GHz without too much effort, and with a bit more time I could crack 4GHz no problem, and it would't get anywhere near close to its thermal limit, and that was something that I had never done before buying this processor, so to go from zero knowledge of overclocking to being able to hit 3.8GHz in a single leap speaks volumes about how easy it is to push this little beast.Yes I recognise that it's not the most powerful CPU out there, even for the 1156 platform there are more powerful processors, but for the price, this was the best value one available to me at the time, now however, it's the core i5 760, which is 30 quid cheaper than this one, but when I bought this, this was cheaper, and I was expecting plenty of performance, and plenty of performance was what I got, far more performance than I had ever dreamed of having, with the current set up it takes a little over 1 minute to boot, and that's from completely off through the BIOS and through into windows at the desktop, which is a drastic improvement to the 2 or so minutes on the old laptop, and 5 minutes on the old prescott desktop, admittedly that is probably due to the faster hard drive and more ram that's installed, but I know that the processor has a lot to answer for the speed it starts up at.With this CPU and indeed this entire computer, I've now fallen in love with computers and working on them, and built up the knowledge to troubleshoot problems on my own, of which there has been a few admittedly, but mostly they've been down to my own mistakes as I've learned, and none have been down to this stormer of a processor.If you're looking for a quality processor and you can find this for cheaper than it is here, then go for it, or if not, go for it's bigger brother the Core i5 760 on here, cause they're awesome processors, you wont be disappointed with them, but if you're looking for a cheap build that is purely for gaming, then go with AMD, they're no doubt just as potent as these, but with Intel, you'll have a far more rounded system, but obviously a more expensive one, mine was a hair under 700 or so quid, an equivalent AMD system wouldn't be much more than 500 quid or soMy computer specs are:(Obviously a) Core i5 750 @ 3.04GHz (I've knocked back my oc for now, for reliabilities sake)GigaByte GA-P55M-UD2 motherboardSapphire HD Radeon 5750 1GB graphics card8GB Corsair XMS3 RAM @ 1600MHz Cas9500GB Western Digital Caviar Blue HDDCorsair H50 Water coolerZalman Z9 caseSony Optiarc 22x DVD RW driveWindows 7 Home Premium 64bitand dual booting Ubuntu 10.10 64bit and Windows XP Home on two other hard drives

I needed more processing power for my DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) and this has provided it. I also bought a tube of Thermal paste but this is not required as there were two small sachets of paste in the jiffy envelope, which I didn't see at first. It was fairly easy to install but I would recommend watching a video before you attempt to install the cpu.

Works very well had some issues at the start from my motherboard i did contact the seller which was very helpful and gave me advise also many thanks works like charm

Excellent will use again. Many thanks.

Still working after all this time.

Upgraded my CPU, Motherboard and RAM and decided to go for an i5 system over the AMD Phenom II x4 965 despite the slightly higher prices.System:-Intel i5-750-Asus P7P55D-G.Skill 1600MHz 4GB-BFG 8800GT 512mb OC-Antec 300 case with 4 fansIm certainly not dissapointed!! Super fast processor: loads applications in no time at all when coupled with 4GB ram. And for games is phenomenal. Flight simulator X (arguably one of the most demanding games available) went from a low of 4-6 FPS (Intel D805 OC to 3.0GHz and 2GB RAM) at Heathrow Airport to 35!!Decided to upgrade the cooler to Arctic cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev2 (From alternate site) so cannot comment on the effectiveness of the stock cooler. With this cooler, the overall CPU temp (speedfan) barely goes over 30*C with the individual cores sometimes reaching 45*C when Turbo Boost is working hard!!The 1156 socket is a very capable interface that's also very good value. The Dual Channel DDR3 RAM is now not much more than its DDR2 predecessors with 4GB kits costing from £75; but considerably cheaper then the socket 1366 triple channel. The only downside with the socket is the maximum graphical bandwidth meaning one card runs at full x16, but 2 run have to run in x8 and x8 due to bandwidth limitations. This is not a problem for me as i run with just the one 8800GT 512mb, and most cards can happily run in x8 mode. It is also a shame that SLI motherboards are few, and far between, and those that do exist are considerably more expensive than the CrossfireX alternatives (But it must be noted that its the same story with the AM3 socket).Overall, this Processor is fantastic value: Fast, affordable and efficient. The 1156 socket does everything needed by most users and DOES take a range of i7 processors for those wanting Hyperthreading without the need for expensive X58 chipsets and triple channel RAM. Oh, and if you don't believe me, do a quick search on [...] to see how they view it!