Member Reviews: Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4 GHz 8 MB Cache Socket LGA1155 Processor

Purchased several of these from the local Microcenter for use in my builds -- and have never been happier with performance and overclocking capabilities. Comfortably overclocked at 4.6GHz, the i7 2600K shows no sign of performance issues when playing some intense online games, or when working with resource intensive applications. The processor also has Intel Virtualization Technology Support, which (providing there is sufficient memory available) allows for the use of Virtual Machines. Good work Intel, no... Great work Intel!

Purchase reason I purchased the 2600K processor from Microcenter during their promotional period when it was going for $270 USD, pairing it with an AsRock P67 Extreme 6 motherboard in order to increase my folding potential. My specific processor was diffused in Malaysia and was part of batch L050A853. Overclocking Overclocking it was close to effortless as with most Sandy Bridge processors. Remember that only the K-series processors have unlocked multipliers which allows for overclocking. All non-k series processors will have their multipliers locked! I was initially content with a 4.5ghz OC using a vcore of 1.296v, but curiosity got the best of me and I later found that I needed 1.356v...

I don't do much video encoding and such but I do fold. This thing is great for folding and will give you some solid PPD. Gaming on this is great (though if you're not folding/video encoding go with the i5 2500k) and is easy as can be for overclocking. Overall this CPU will last for a while* and is a great addition to any rig that supports it. There is nothing really bad to say about this processor. *Subjective

Most will agree this is the best chip you can get pre-LGA2011. The headroom is great and you can always hope to get lucky but I ended up at 4.5 with a little jump in vcore and it only took a 2 days with testing. You can find some good deals for it and the overall upgrade is pretty affordable since its not an "enthusiast" chip. The motherboard options aren't great, I regret buying a z68 board as the price isn't worth the difference for most people on here I would think.

This thing is amazing - probably Intel's best CPU yet. With a good motherboard, its incredibly easy to overclock, and the voltage needed to hit 5ghz is fairly low (im at 4.96ghz @ 1.395v). The performance is amazing as well. In games its THE BEST CPU available. Bar none. Overclocked its just better. For rendering, its up there. Outside of the 6-core Intel CPUs, it cant be beat. The power usage is fairly low, as well as the heat output. Basically: looking for a high-end CPU? Get this. Looking for a cheaper high-end CPU? Get the 2500k.

Good chip. Very good bang for the buck. If you don't mind spending a little time reading up and tweaking settings, then this can be a very powerful CPU. I'm running a mild overclock at 4.6ghz. 24hours on prime 95 and the temp never went past 59C on my water cooled system. Handles everything I throw at it. Amazing chip.