Deal: Pickup Core i7's for Less than Core 2's
Browsing through online retailers for the latest prices on CPUs, we came across some good prices on the latest AMD and Intel offerings.
For example, a quick run over to PriceGrabber looking for Core i7 CPUs, lands us with some attractive figures. You can pick up a quad core Intel Core i7 920 for around $$279 but buying a quad core Core 2 Q9650 will set you back $324.99 at the same retailer. Likewise, you can also pick up an AMD Phenom II X4 940 quad core for less than $235.
At this point, if you're looking for parts for a brand new system, a Core i7 or Phenom II would be the way to go. There's no sense still picking up a quad-core Core 2 system when prices are the way they're going. If you're looking to build a budget system or one for HTPC duties, a Core 2 Duo would be a good bargain as well.
Prices above are what we found at the time of this article.
If you're building a high end gaming rig today, which would you vouch for? The latest Phenom II or the latest Core i7? Or skip a PC altogether and go for a console?

I7 if your wallet is big.
EXACTLY. DDR3 and i7 motherboards are expensive.
You beat me to it man :^).
Silly question.
SC2 and D3 are still on the horizon... gotta wait till they (or at least SC2) are out before I know what sort of money I need to spend, if any ~_~
Then it comes down to i7 vs Phenom 2. The AM2+ mobo is dead tech, so it's the new AM3 mobo using DDR3. The limited availability AM3 boards are nearly as expensive as the cheap i7 boards.
So in the end I figure didn't pay that much of a premium to go i7. It did cost more than usual, but I figure the machines a bit better than usual.
lol, sorry.
I wish I lived Georgia dammit.
What is the primary function of the machine you are building? Are you on a tight budget? If money is not the problem then go for a $5000 PC with the latest and greatest hardware and have fun. If just deciding between a Q9XXX and i7 920 on a budget I would favor Q9XXX.
Maybe it depends on the apps but for at least some, the i7 isn't an improvement in power over the c2d and c2q. Tom's has used i7's in 2 of their systembuilder marathons and for at least some single threaded apps, the i7's were beat by 2 of their previous builds using an E8500 and Q9650. One of the i7's was even beat by Tom's previous E5200. In one of their gaming tests one of the i7's was beaten by 3 previous c2's.