the x4 940 is a good cpu. It is on par with the q9400-q9550 and a system build would be considerably cheaper than a i7 build. I priced out a decent rig yesterday and came up with $800-$900 depending on what you want using the 940 deneb, ati 4870 and the 790gx board. Check the cache on the wolfdales....i think they are L2 4mb giving the cores 2mb each. The x4 940 has 6mb L3 giving each core <2mb per core, but only if you are using all 4....which is rare. The e8500 is a good bargain cpu too, though and it is an overclocking beast.