Q: What's the best core 2 duo (value for money) if I don't want to mess with overclocking?
A: No idea why people are suggesting Pentiums, when apart form been out of date youve specifially said Core 2's. a Core 2 Duo of 2.2ghz+ should be okay, though most of the value in Core 2's are ther OC ability, cos you cna turn yuor chepa 2.2 into a nippy nad expensive 2.66 easy as pie. if you do alot of video editing 3d, phot editing, multitasking (many programs open at once) the a Q6600 ( Core 2 Quad 2.4ghz) is great. and as mentioend tyou cna knock it up to a Quad Extrme ghz wiht jsut a slightly better fan, whihc makes it form 9.6ghz full multicore to 12ghz full multiscore, whihc is liek haveing an extra core. for a standard user a 2,2ghz+ Duo should do.