I became a big believer in dual-core CPUs after I got my Core Duo based Tablet PC a couple of months ago. In fact, the clearly noticeable benefits in multitasking performance prompted me to sell off the Athlon 64 4000+ in my desktop and replace it with a dual-core Opteron 165 this week. The cost difference was a mere $20, so it was totally worth it.

The Opteron 165 cores run at a stock speed of 1.8 GHz compared to the 2.4 GHz that the single-core 4000+ did. But anyone who has read anything about the Socket 939 Opterons knows that they're an overclocker's dream come true. I'm currently running the processor at 2.6 GHz with the voltage dropped downto 1.28V, so it runs nice and cool, and at 800 MHz above the stock speed. The performance is already on-par with a $600 FX-60 for a fraction of the price. I'm sure I can safely crank it up some more with a few tweaks, but that's for another day... :)