Pros: Speed, price, low power/heat.
Cons: Rumored to be a short-lived platform, it will eventually be beaten.
The bottom line: If you are reading this article and no newer CPU has been released, then the Core 2 Duo E6600 is likely one of the best choices you can make.
NOTE: Due to the nature of high-end computer parts, the information found in this review (especially in regards to performance) will likely be dated within a matter of months.

I was a long-time AMD fan until this CPU finally came out (after much speculation and rumor). I had an overclocked 4400+... by no means slow, but when reviews with final performance statistics were released, I knew I had to have one. I acquired mine within days of the official release date, and have just now decided to write a review on it.

While many have argued that the technology inside a Core 2 Duo does not match that of AMD, it is still the fastest CPU one can buy. This will remain the case at least until AMD releases their new K10 series of CPUs. Not EVERY C2D will beat ANY X2, but C2D is overall the winner.

The E6600 is the lowest-clocked 'Conroe' core you can buy, meaning, 4mb of L2 cache instead of 2mb ('Allendale'). Cache has always been a point of debate because sometimes its effects are negligible or nonexistent. However, Intel has made the decision simple because the only way to get 4mb of L2 cache is to buy a higher-clocked CPU anyway.

Relative performance is very high. The E6600 will run anything you throw at it, and have plenty of processing power left over. Dual-core will allow you to multitask better. Core 2 Quad CPUs exist, but at a much higher price. For most applications, including gaming and work, the Core 2 Duo is a fine choice. The E6600 is a good balance of price/performance of the group.

The E6600 is a very good overclocker. Being the lowest-clocked CPU with the highest amount of available cache means it is the choice for people trying to match the fastest CPU available on a budget. Mine got to ~3.2ghz on air cooling, faster than the X6800 (at the time, retail of $1000). It's not the greatest overclocker. The average appears to be more like 3.4ghz, a few reaching as high as 3.6ghz on air cooling. Of course it all depends on your motherboard/memory/power supply (and luck), but the 65nm transistor size and architecture of this processor do lend to a higher overclocking potential than other CPUs on the market.

Intel has historically changed their platform for CPUs often... if you buy a Core 2 Duo, do not expect the mainboard to last several CPU generations.

Just like every other new CPU, the Core 2 Duo will be bested. Popular opinion and common sense suggest that AMD's new K10 will be the one to do so. The information in this review is extremely limited; if you want to make the absolute best decision, then you need to conduct extensive research to make sure that it is the right CPU for you.

AND AGAIN... if you are reading this a year after it was written, then do not take anything in it as accurate... things have likely changed.