Intel's Core i7-980X processor (aka "Gulftown") contains a whopping six processing cores, and thanks to Intel's Hyper-Threading technology can marshal up to 12 threads simultaneously. That's some serious performance potential. But the CPU itself doesn't come cheap—it's priced at $999 (the same as its Extreme Edition predecessor, the Core i7-975)—so there's the possibility that you may want to use this as an excuse to get an entirely new system out of the bargain. Yes, you'll have to drop some dough—quite a lot of it, in fact—but both will give you a lot of game for your green.
, kind of late news but thought I'd share 
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