e2180 vs 4600+ for gaming?

If running stock, the 4600+ is probably the better performer. The 2180 should overclock a lot higher however, and should win if you are planning on overclocking. The 2180 has a much nicer upgrade path also, so unless its a lot more then the 4600+ (don't forget to include the motherboard) I'd get it.

if you're lucky, you could get it up to 3.4. i personally went amd instead of intel for my current build because the 780G motherboards offered so many more features than anything with an intel chipset. I picked up an athlon X2 4200+ (i took that one instead of the 4600+ because it uses the 65nm process instead of the 90nm) and i oc'ed it to 2.9Ghz without increasing the voltage. so far it's running just fine.

i didnt know there was a 65nm 4600+. well anyway the only way for you to decide is going to be based on which features you want in a motherboard. my cpu decision was made over the motherboard. amd's 780G chipset offered a lot of features and has half-decent integrated graphics. that may not be of any use to you though. What I especially liked about the board i picked up was that it has a pci-e 2.0 slot, which is very nice to find on a $70 board. it was also one of the only boards i could find with 8.1 channel surround sound support onboard. this was important to me because i wanted my speakers to work fully. either way your games will run fine, it just depends on if you plan on overclocking, and what your needs in a mobo are. also, the resolution you game at can make a difference here. if you're gaming at high resolutions, get a cheaper cpu and a more expensive video card.