Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 2.66GHz Processor

Top class processor

Strengths: Fastest dual core processor without spending a fortune. Runs cool and very overclockable.

Weakness: Somewhat of a lower value than the e6600 and e6400. Included heatsink isn't all that great.

This runs everything without a hitch. I used a thermalright ultra 120 extreme heatsink on this processor and it idles at 27C and runs at 47C at 100% under TAT (a tool to test the maximum performance and stability of your CPU). With games, I never see the temperature rise above 35C. Impressive. And with intel's price cuts, this processor is now actually affordable! Get it!

By jemorjem - Jun 20, 2007

CPU for when the 10x multiplier is worth that extra $100-and-change.

Strengths: 10x FSB Multiplier, 4MB on-die cache, lots of overhead for overclocking and reasonable temps at stable and high speeds.

Weakness: Unless you're overclocking substantially and have a motherboard that has some FSB limitations, the price over an E6600 (or possible and AMD X2 6000+) may not be worth the cost.

I purchased this processor after Intel's April 22nd price cut, with the new price at roughly $330. It has found a home on my DFI Infinity 975X/G motherboard (which I has previously had an E6600 on). This particular motherboard hits an FSB wall at 372 MHz -- I can be stable for 100+ of heavy computing (using the BOINC distributed computing project when otherwise not in use) at 372, but at 373 and...
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I purchased this processor after Intel's April 22nd price cut, with the new price at roughly $330. It has found a home on my DFI Infinity 975X/G motherboard (which I has previously had an E6600 on). This particular motherboard hits an FSB wall at 372 MHz -- I can be stable for 100+ of heavy computing (using the BOINC distributed computing project when otherwise not in use) at 372, but at 373 and up I can't get it stable for more than an hour or so.

With the 9x maximum multiplier on the E6600, I was limited to a CPU speed of about 3.34 GHz (although with a Zalman 9700 CNPS CPU cooler, my core temps never exceeded the mid-50's (Celsius) and the motherboard CPU temp probe was consistently in the high 30's to low 40's under load.

With the latest round of CPU price wars, I bought the E6700 for the rig, figuring with the 10x rather than 9x multiplier I could get a proportional increase in performance for the price (it looks like I'm stable at 360x10 at 1.525v with core temps never exceeding 66C erven with extended loading -- e.g. Prime95 v25.1 In-place FFT's for 12+ hours).

In effect, the only significant difference between the E6600 and the E6700 is this FSB multiplier. If you're planning on running this chip at standard configurations or only OC slightly, the difference in price (as of April the 6700 is about $110-120 more expensive than the E6600) may not be worth it.

If you're not pushing it to its limits, it's a lot more sensible to go with an E6600 (or get an E6300, E6320 or even an E6420 to save even more.) And even if you do want to push it to its edges, a purchase of one of the cheaper C2D chips in conjunction with a very good motherboard (e.g. use the $$ you save on the CPU to buy a well-designed 680i chipset motherboard) and get similar CPU performance by using a higher FSB rather than a higher CPU multiple (not to mention the other performance benefits of running your FSB faster).

If you’re not overclocking, the AMD X2 6000+ processor is a little cheaper and from what I've had has shown some benefits over the Intel chips in terms of video processing, so that is another alternative to consider (although it tends to have a lot less overclocking overhead than the Intel chip).

However, if you're like me and have a motherboard you really like (the DFI 975X/G) along with strong evidence that your CPU -- for example like my E6600 -- is getting less than its full potential, the E6700 CPU with its 10x multiplier may be worth the extra hundred bucks and change. I love it; it has noticeably increased CPU performance (while lowering some system temps since I did pull back the FSB to 360 from 372), and the temps are fine even at 3.6GHz on air cooling (using the Zalman).

It's a good processor for the buck (at least after the price drops), but a lower-end chip and higher-end motherboard is definitely an alternative combination that may achieve similar or better results for the dollar.

Overall, though, I'm glad I got it for the performance increase (and I've demoted my E6600 into a lower-OC and rock solid 24/7 gateway computer for my LAN). If that 10x multiplier is calling, it's worth the price. If a lower multiplier is sufficient, there's a decision as to where to spend teh extra bucks: the motherboard or the CPU. I'm waiting to see how my old E6600 does with a 680i chipset MB -- hopefully I can get it up to a similar level of performance as this E6700.

By geo442 - Apr 25, 2007

Fast Processor

Strengths: Blistering performance in games, multimedia, development, music recording and mixing. Low poer draw. Works great with MSI P6N sli Platinum mobo with Mushkin DDR2-800 memory.

Weakness: Still a little expensive but nothing other than that.

A worthwhile processor when compared to the competition - especially now that prices have come down. Great for overclocking. I overclocked it to 3.2ghz using Intel's stock heatsink and thermal material. After cleaning it off, and using an aftermarket HSF combo I hit 3.5 easy. At that speed it decimates EVERYTHING that tries to compare to it's performance I also got a good deal by checking out...
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A worthwhile processor when compared to the competition - especially now that prices have come down.
Great for overclocking. I overclocked it to 3.2ghz using Intel's stock heatsink and thermal material. After cleaning it off, and using an aftermarket HSF combo I hit 3.5 easy. At that speed it decimates EVERYTHING that tries to compare to it's performance
I also got a good deal by checking out Pricegrabber - it's the place to go for great prices!

By mssurrey - Apr 24, 2007

Core 2 Duo E6700 Dual Core Processor (2.66GHz, 4MB, 1066MHz FSB, LGA775)

Strengths: The best processor I've ever had

Weakness: Still expensive

This processor is the fastest processor I've ever had. I work a lot with video files and now my computer does the best job with processing mpeg and divx files. Sometimes I play games and my pc never gets frozen as used to be before. I believe it's the best processor for Vista Ultimate 32-bit.

By awint - Aug 3, 2007

Core 2 Duo E6700 Dual Core Processor (2.66GHz, 4MB, 1066MHz FSB, LGA775)

Strengths: Fast relyable processor not requiring a powerfull cooler

Weakness: n/a

This processor is very fast and I fit my old CPU cooler from Pentium D easily over it. So far I have not seen any cons with using it. I'm very glad with all new Intel products.

By zipmale - Jul 24, 2007