Just like at the beginning of review I'll try to start off with good aspects of Clarkdale, or Core i5 661. First of all, innovative integration of the 45nm Northbridge with two 32 nm processor cores in one die is a huge step forward. This enables a smaller platform footprint which is a great thing when building mobile platforms or SFF computers. These segments will receive a monster of a processor with small power consumption, heat output and updated 45 nm graphics core with new possibilities. Remember these platforms are not meant for gaming, so Intel's IGP will most of the time provide more than enough performance for needed tasks, like Windows Aero.
As for desktop users, Core i5 661 can really pack some punch, in many benchmarks it provides performance similar to a Quad Core, which is amazing for a Dual Core processor. Thanks to the 32 nm process node Core i5 661 draws considerably less power under load than the competition and stays within cool operating temperatures even with budget CPU coolers like the Scythe Katana III used in this review. When dealing with single threaded applications, Core i5 661 blows away its competition thanks to Turbo Boost and very high clocks, but unfortunately this is where the list of good things end.
Core i5 661 produce great performance, but in my opinion in all the wrong places. Synthetics and single threaded performances are the strongest points of Core i5 661 processor and for a $210 processor that will simply not be enough. Clarkdale is a great idea gone wrong during implementation, as far as desktop users are concerned. Considering the price of Core i5 661 which is on par with Quad Core Core i5 750, these two models should perform about the same, but they don't. If we take a look at all benchmarks done in this review, Core i5 661 manages to stay close to i5 750 in a third of tests while in the rest it falls behind with small or noticeable margin making it a lot slower in general. High latencies and older memory controller in the IGP part of Clarkdale don't help either and for most of the destkop users, IGP, which is more than half of the Clarkdale chip size will be a pure waste of good silicon. Although Core i5 661 performs well in games, running this processor in P55 boards with current price tag makes no sense as long as there is Core i750 for same price.
HTPC and office users don't really need this much horsepower from the processor so they're better off with cheaper Core i3 models or AMD's 785G platform. So if it's not good for HTPC, office or gaming setups, that leaves Core i5 661... well, nowhere. In essence it's an overpriced processor package with high end technology limited by older generation technology and on top of that, with an IGP that most likely no desktop PC owner will ever use. Nevertheless, Intel has produced a good platform for mobile and SFF computers with Westmere architecture and Clarkdale processors which will also serve as great foundation for the upcoming Sandy Bridge architecture. If it were reviewed in a complete SFF or HTPC platform, Core i5 661 would be scored higher, but as standalone product it's overrun by cheaper and better performing models.