AMD X2 5600

Well, I asked for a new barebones kit for last Christmas and this is what I got.AMD X2 5600+, An ASUS motherboard, 4 GB's of ram, an aftermarket cooler for the CPU, a 250 GB hard drive, and a 512 MB video card.I set it all up, and I have to admit, the 5600+ FLYS.I run BOINC on all of my computers.If you don't know what it is, It stresses the CPU by running different distributed computing projects, like Protein simulators, Climate simulators, ect.I have been running BOINC 24/7 on this computer since December 26th, 2007.And it's still going!The CPU temp idles around 40 degrees celsius and about 55 under a full load. I'm pretty sure I can pull off a lot lower temps if I install a better CPU fan, but for now it's running good!

Obviously, it isn't as fast as a quad core, but I personally think the 5600+ is great for someone on a tight budget, but is looking for a reliable dual-core.