New i7 Cores or the usual Quad-Core processors?

[zeppoleon]

I think I'll be on the market soon for a new PC. One thing I can't decide on is whether the i7 Core would be worth it to buy over the normal Quad-Cores. This rig would be used for normal tasks, as well as gaming. Now, I'm no where near thinking about getting that extreme i7 Core (1000$ is to expensive for me!).
I would like to know your opinion on whether to get an i7 Core (2.66 GHz) or stick with the Quad Cores (~3.00GHz). Keep in mind the price of the motherboards, and RAM that would be associated with the processors. Much thanks!

[fishtoprecords]

The price of i7 motherboards closes the discussion for me. YMMV. The only i7 motherboards are really expensive. If you must have bragging rights, get the i7, otherwise, a nice core2 quad, more memory, better video card is more bang for the buck.

At least today. In six months, it will all change.

[davmoo]

Yep, color me "me too" on that one. When I can get a motherboard that supports the core-2 series of quad cores for $60 or less versus an i7 motherboard at $300 plus, and then I have to stuff it with a processor that is $300 at the bottom end of performance and I can get similar stats in a higher end core-2 for less money by overclocking, there's no debate. And then there's the issue of having to buy all new memory. I'm not going to pay that much just to show off.

When I can get an i7 and motherboard combo for around $300 and it still has the option of using DDR2, I'll think about it.