Had mine running at 2.5 for about 18 months with no problems whatsoever. It was one of the first out, so I imagine that's why it doesn't hit the 2.8 - 3.0 that some people are getting. 2.5 has been plenty fast - until now anyway. I'm getting an e6600 today and expect a nice overclock to around 3.4 - 3.6. I expect to notice a BIG difference, especially when encoding DVDs 