oh comon, buying a new Athlon64 CPU, such as 3800+ X2 is not that bad either.
For power hungry users who have money, C2D is the best way, however for those who want to buy a system now, which will last for 2+ years, get an Athlon 64 3800+ AM2, cos the prices are down. The performance is low compared to C2D, but if u compare the 3800+ X2 with E6300, which have almost equal price, u can't be that wrong buying AMD. It's just a 5% difference, which won't even matter
if u go higher, like Athlon 64 4200+ etc, then better leave it & buy a E6400/E6600 insted, it gives better performance per watt & best bang for the price