CPU shootout

A very good comparison of Microprocessors on Toms Hardware.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/07/16/cpu_charts_2007/index.html

Surprisingly enough, many older processors are still competitive enough, and in a few cases, beat the newer processors. Like E6600 does outperform E6650 on some occasions. But then, E6600 has lower cache and FSB, but higher clock multiplier. So in some cases, it might be a better performer. Higher FSB, like in E6650, does help in memory intensive applications.

IMHO, E6600 is still the best buy at current prices, and would suffice for 2 more years. But if you want more juice, well you have the Core 2 Extreme processors with Quad core. Also, I believe that there has to be an optimum number of cores - the performance gain when jumping from single to double core is much higher percentage-wise, than a jump from dual core to quad core, or quad core to 8-core. AFAIK, multiple core/processor machines are very good at the server level. I am not too sure regarding how much would be the performance gain for a gaming desktop.

Also, the good old AMD Athlon X2 series is still alive and kicking. Its good enough for most applications.