You children are incredibly ignorant.
Buying an i5 is saying "I'm going to purchase a multicore cpu that only excels at single threaded tasks".
It's funny how uneducated EVERY SINGLE post has been.
Do you actually USE your cpu? Or are you worried about some world of warcraft, poorly-threaded shitfest type of application?
The i5 absolutely sucks at rendering (3ds, c4d, blender, ae etc), DAW loads and anything highly threaded, especially when compared to hexa-core AMDs. Yes, anatech is highly biased, as is cinebench. Real world results are in favor of physical cores 99% of the time. Hyper-threading is an outdated and largely useless feature for children that don't, once again, use their CPU!
So, i5 ~= i7, both are quad cores designed to execute single threads quickly (FOR GAMER CHILDREN)
The fx 6 series IS A HEXACORE. In no way does this chip or the marketing go against the definition of core. Arguing otherwise is completely false and a favorite pastime of you little fanboy children.
6 physical cores = superior multi-thread execution.
6 ferrite rings = hexacore, since I've explained this now I expect no more idiocy from you children (yeah right).
1100t tops out at 4.2 ghz? Are you mentally challenged or just incapable of overclocking? 4.2 is nothing, easily achievable with the stock heatsink.
fx series? 5 + incredibly easily, PLUS highly overclocked ram support (far above anything supported by Sandy Bridge).
So please, don't bring your bullshit in here, intel children. Some of us actually know how to configure a system.
Also, do some research on CMT vs. SMT!
BTW, Ivy Bridge is a DIE SHRINK, nothing more.
Seriously, if I see any more uneducated intel fanboy bullshit, imma start knocking heads.