This was an upgrade from a Celeron-D single core, 32-bit device that was having a bit of difficulty running modern applications. The Core 2 Duo dual core design provides just enough extra processing power (and true multi-threading) to stop the jitters and hitches that the machine had been experiencing. It increased the front side bus (FSB) clock from 533 to 800 MHz. Not only that, but the power consumption is lower too!
This is a new old stock (NOS) OEM processor. It is the same product that comes in the "box", but without the four-color cardboard packaging and installation instructions. Probably what the retail computer integrators get in bulk from Intel. Since they're not building computers with these chips anymore, they're liquidating them at bargain basement prices.
The supplied stock heatsink and fan is smaller than the one that came with the Celeron D. The fan runs quietly, keeping the processor at about 35C (idle) and 45C (very busy). The design spec thermal profile for this chip goes from 45C to 73C, with 59C right in the middle of its range. So this processor isn't even breaking a sweat with the stock cooling option. I have never seen the fan spin up above a leisurely 1000 RPM.
Why did I choose this CPU? Because my old motherboard supports it. I realize that Core 2 Duo is not a modern processor, but it is known to be very over-clockable. I'm not overclocking it, but a person could have some fun with an older, inexpensive chip. So if you're upgrading an old machine, the price is right, and it was a snap to install. For $35.00, I probably added five years to the life of this server.
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