When it comes to performance, Intel has been the one to beat for quite some time. The Core i series Nehalem CPUs provided a fantastic boost in performance over the Core 2 line. The new Sandy Bridge CPUs look to provide another boost, but is the leap as dramatic? Today we'll be taking a look at the Core i5 2300, which fills the lowest slot in the i5 range for this generation. Let's see just how well this middleweight CPU manages to hold its own.