ya the lowest i7 extreme is superior to the fastest core2quad
i have an i7... it is solid.. i've been pushing it (nowhere near its limit) since the day i've got it
and the msi platinum says it supports sli on its website... but the box itself does not say.. and does not come with an sli bridge
and difference between 8 and 3 gb's... the only time you'd notice is if you were doing some serious multi tasking
that being playing a game while ripping something, burning cd's and all that kinda crap at once
but honestly, i do it w/ 3gb just fine
i would much rather have a nice new SOLID foundation with room to upgrade.... rather than something old that is at its limits....
you always have more time to upgrade