BX80637I73770 Core i7-3770 3.40 GHz Cache 8MB Processor

The I7-3770 is an optimal purchase for a cost-effective build that provides good performance and options for the foreseeable future. This CPU is fast, stable and when paired with a quality motherboard and 16gb of DDr-1600 RAM it multi-tasks and blows through applications as well as one can expect. You always can "do better" but only if you move up a series and/or go with twin CPUs and likewise and pay double. Use any money you save with this processor to buy yourself a step-up in motherboard, video card, memory, HDD/SSD, etc. :Points to Ponder: (A)If you like/want/need to overclock the INTEL "K" series processor are designed for that. That said, Intel may deny a return on any failed "K" series processor due to the possibility of end user foul-up. (B)Unless you are a the "Sheldon Cooper" type, the minor difference in native speed between the I7-3770 and I7-3770K is not noticeable for common tasks such as word processing, spreadsheets, databases, speech recognition, video playback and 3D games. With my system, video / audio / photo editing and production are optimal and I have yet to get a lockup when multitasking between as many as a dozen apps. (C)If 70% of your use and need is purely to "game" then go with any of the Intel I5 series. This I7 CPU is excellent for games but why spend the extra if you do not have the constant need for it? The CPU does count but gamers get the most bang for their bucks via a higher end video cards. (Heat issue fears with the IVY series) Overheating has only been a reported problem for those who overclock the "K" series and/or build and operate their systems poorly. Get a well vented case, good fans and CPU cooler, keep things clean of dust and hair and for God's sake don't operate in a 100+degree environment and you should be okay. (My build) I7-3770 CPU Corsair Hydro H60 CPU cooler (*Fan setup | interior-> (120mm push)->[HYDRO RADIATOR]->(120mm pull)-> exhaust from case) ASUS P8Z77-V Motherboard (*BIOS downloaded from ASUS and updated during 2nd test boot to fully support IVY bridge processor.) 16GB G.SKILL Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL DDR-3 1600 RAM (*2 sets) SAMSUNG 830 series SSD as Primary Boot & Apps drive (*Firmware updated) Western Digital Black 1TB SATA III HDD XFX RADON HD 6870 1GB GPU video card (*using Microsoft Drivers) Rosewill HIVE 650 PSU. (*Modulator wires are just long enough in my build but extension are available.) Rosewill Challenger mid-tower case. (* several airflow case fan options to work with. It is a "decent tight fit" for ASUS P8Z77-V but, IMHO 1-inch longer footprint from front to back to allow more distance between the MB and drive cages would have been better.)

I installed this in the intel dh77df itx motherboard for my htpc along with an Intel ssd drive and max (16gb) memory in an Antec ISK-110 case. Whew! this processor is so smooth and fast that it made my i5 processor seems to feel as if its going in reverse. My applications open really fast and the video playback is flawless. Previously I purchased one of the "K" series of these processors and was tweaking it by overclocking the processor. It was really, really fast but I didn't have any self control and kept trying to get more and more ghz from the "K" series processor until I tweaked it a bit too much and damaged the chip. This is why and how I decided to stick with this processor model instead. So if you really don't have any self control like me, better off getting this chip and save yourself a lot of heartache. The chip is fast, reliable and run very cool with the stock heatsink and fan unit it comes with. All this was running Win8 which I regret purchasing and should have stayed with Win7. However, this chip made Win8 really move even with all the little annoyances of the operating system.

I couldn't be happier with this CPU. Brand new with the correct cooling system, easy to install and instantly worked without any issues.

After years of using an old Dell Inspiron 660s, upgrading what I could with scrap and salvage. It was nice to finally get a nice premium line upgrade for a good price. The i7 brought me from 2 cores to 4, and made the device capable of so much more. Not only with the cmvarioussme virtualization functions being far more capable compared to the minimal Qemu function of the Celeron processor. But with its base clock and core counts helping to pull more range and card usage out of the devices by result of optimization. Came with a fan and heat sink, they clipped right in, helping install the device quickly and securly. Definitely a great quality pircha

This chip comes with a cooler that is ready to attach to latest Intel socket. Very easy to install on the motherboard. It's fast enough without overclocking. If you want to overclock get the 3770K. Still, the motherboard and the chip communicate to allow some tweaking but playing around with the settings is really unnecessary. Combined with the OS on a solid state drive, this chip and a reliable MB make for the fastest computer I have ever owned, and I mean noticeably fast. The OS boots up in seconds. The aps and programs load almost instantly (unless the software slows load times purposefully to display startup and info screens). With this chip, a mid level graphics card and a good MB you can build a creditable gaming computer for well under $1000.00, that is pretty much future-proof; at least for the next ten years or so. That's because most compatible motherboards will have USB 3.0, displayport outputs, SATA 6MB/s and other state of the art ports and connectors with upgradeable bios.

I initially only wanted an entry level Intel Core i7 for our upgraded desktop since I found out that the technician, who custom-built our PC somewhat cheated us as to parts for a price of $1300 in early spring of 2011. This after I looked at the specs when I started noticing that our PC started hanging and rebooting for no reason while in use. So late last year I came up with a plan to upgrade it; after all, I was building my son's gaming PC so it would make no sense to me to build his with the latest specs while I watch my own custom PC wither away just because I trusted an a__hole to get it done for me. At that point last year I was no longer a computer "dinosaur'. I invested enough time reading gaming PC websites and had become confident that with proper timing, without compromising the latest specs as being outdated by the time I was done with my son's PC, to be able to make out my own version of custom gaming PC. This was how I stumbled in this product. Remember, I initially said that I only wanted an entry level Intel Core i7 processor in place of the lowly Intel Core i3 2100 that my cheating tech installed. Regardless of the replacement issues, I finally got to test it with the rest of the upgraded specs, using a 2011 motherboard which was forward compatible with what I have managed to scrap. Bam!!! Worked right away. I only need to flash the mobo so it would recognize this CPU. I have not even delved into the overclocking issues. Conclusion: this is not an entry level CPU. It is a lot more than that. It is capable of performing hyperthreading events and since I am an amateur DSLR photographer when we(my family) are on a road trip and do a lot of photo editing and recovery, it can do multitasking too without the hassle compared to the inferior Intel Core i3 2100s which deserves to go to a museum instead of an electronics store!!! 3 weeks into, I am satisfied. Price was greatly reduced too but performance was never comrpomised. Here are my final specs with this CPU at the core: 1. Motherboard--GA P67A D3 B3 rev 1.0; 2. CPU--Intel Core i7 3770 3.4 GHz; 3. CPU heatsink--Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO; 4. Memory(Dual Channel)--16 GB Crucial(8x2) DDR3 1333mHz and Kingston 8GB(4x2) DDR3 1333mHz, total of 24GB; 5. Graphics card: EVGA GTX GeForce 960 SSC 2GB; Power Supply--Antec HCG 750w 80 Plus Bronze with 135 mm fan with white LEDs(fully modular) 6.Drives--1 SSD Crucial M500 120 GB as boot drive and 2TB(1x2) WD 7200 RPM as storage drives and 7. Antec Case with 2 fans.

I believe this is an excellent CPU. It runs with no problem. I have a couple of additional comments to make, especially concerning some comments in other reviews. By the way, I used this to replace an i7-920 (which also required a new motherboard because it uses a different socket). 1. Although this CPU is supposedly not able to be overclocked (except for turbo mode), I find that is easily overclocked. My Asus P8Z11-V Deluxe motherboard (and its utilities) will automatically overclock it to about 4.22 G. It runs there 24 hours a day with no problems or instability. Of course, it won't overclock as much as the i7-1770K. 2. Concerning using the Intel CPU cooler that came with it: I used that at the beginning because I needed to get a different backplate for my CoolerMaster V8 CPU cooler. It did work, but was hot. With the V8 installed it runs more than 15 C cooler (at full load,(running folding at home with SMP (using 6 or 8 cores) and 2 GPUs) than with the original Intel cooler. So, if you overclock it and run it hard, I would recommend getting an after-market CPU cooler even though it will run somewhat OK with the original Intel cooler. I highly recommend this processor.

I opted for this CPU since I use lots of virtual machines for my day-to-day programming tasks, so having hyper-threaded virtual cores is somewhat worthwhile. Since this is the non-K version I can't overclock but I do get extra features like VT-x that most users probably won't need, but help with virtualization. With 16GB of RAM, I can easily run multiple guest operating systems on top of Windows 8 and the whole system still just flies. Even with folding@home running simultaneously using all 8 cores, I still have great multitasking performance. The guest operating systems feel as though they were installed to the bare metal computer. I've read lots of complaints about the stock cooler but I think most of those are unfounded. At idle, the fan is barely audible. My idle temperatures are around 35-45*C. The fan does spin up at higher loads, but it's still not noisy. Running folding@home it gets up to about 80*C, which while hot is well within Intel's thermal specification. Plenty of GPUs routinely have higher load temperatures than this. Using the IntelBurnTest, I get up to about 90-95*C which while very toasty is still below the maximum allowable temperature, and still stable. In practice, few or no applications will generate as much heat as this test. So unless you're overclocking, which is disabled on this particular chip anyway, you're probably fine with the stock cooler. Overall, highly recommended. I can't believe how much faster this machine feels than my old C2D E8400 machine with 4GB of RAM, which was already quick to begin with.