Every so often the market changes, respected hardware review sites release excellent articles that are very relevant. This isn't meant to be an in depth help for discussion. If you need help please post in our Hardware forum.

Anandtech has released a new article: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800: The Fastest Desktop CPU, now with more cores. However the real story is the price cuts that AMD and Intel have announced. It appears that both are speed/price competative again.

Intel sweet spot: e6400/e6600

AMD sweet spot: 6000+

I highly recommend that if you are in the market for a new cpu that you read this article: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel...?i=2963&p=2

Anandtech did point out that if you are currently running an intel dual core cpu, that waiting till the new Penryn core is released is advised.

Just want to make everyone aware, Intel is cutting prices on July 22nd, AMD is currently in the process so prices will probably be fluctuating till the end of the week. If you wanting to invest into a new processor, it's advisable that you wait. Quads are said to be go for 266$ (Q6600) though I wouldn't be surprices if it was a little higher. The reason for the price cut it that Intel will begin fazing out the current processor which will be replaced with the Core2duo revision which will run at a FSB of 1333.
Please note that you are required to have P35, which there are a few other chipsets which say they can run a FSB of 1333, such as the i680, we won't know for sure till the new processors are released. Though it's not official like the P35 chipset is, however there may be a BIOS flash and it could very well support it.....but we'll have ti wait and see.
One last thing, for those of you who aer curios, the processors will be called E(or Q)6x50, the "x" represents either a 3,4,6 or 7.
James

Here's what to expect next week for price cuts next week.
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel...?i=3038&p=2
James

my brother told me AMD sucks cause it heats up too fast and is bad for gaming cos the comp might bust. my friend told me if i wanted AMD i need to have a cooling system installed too is it true

Regardless of the computer manufacturer you must have a cooling system otherwise known as a heatink/fan combo. Faluire of doing so will result in the chip frying, regardless if it's AMD or Intel.
James

A very biased look at CPU's. ALL Cpu's create a lot of heat and as james said ALL will require a heatsink and fan to keep them from frying within a few minutes of startup. You cannot say one brand or another has hotter/cooler chips as each range of chips runn differently. Until Intel brought out its Core Duo range they were pushing their Netburst architecture to its limits and thus creating HUGE geat problems, at this point (only last year) AMD was def the cooler of the two chips. Not Intel have realised their mistake and have changed their approach on their chips greatly reducing their temp. Aright now Intel are the way to go, although around crissy AMD are bringing out their new line of desktop CPU's (Phenon). We will have to wait and see how they perform but so far they are looking good with great reductions in performance-per-watt, which should mean a lot of heat reduction, which may bring them below the Intel temps. But all in all, ALL CPU's run hot, just some hotter than others, so please dont generalize.