When we are doing benchmarking at PC Perspective, an easy way to see how a program responds to additional CPU cores is to disable 1 or more cores and run the benchmarks again.  All hardware and speeds stay the same, but with less cores available, making any scaling that occurs easy to spot.  As an enthusiast trying to use a new dual/quad core CPU, having a disabled core isn’t exactly what you want and it can be quite frustrating when that happens.  There is also a thread in that forum that can help out anyone looking to buy a Phenom, a bunch of members are keeping track of availability and pricing.  Once you have picked up a CPU, the natural urge to overclock will take over and you will push the system to it’s limits.  Of course you do have to properly test the PC to make sure you haven’t pushed it too far.  You also have to keep the system cool, and one of the biggest culprits for creating the heat can be the hardest to tame, especially when it’s hard to get proper info on what coolers will actually fit!

Remember, tomorrow is the first day of December, and one of the best ways to buy yourself other people presents is to check out the Hot Deals forum and The Trading Post.