[citation][nom]blazorthon[/nom]Intel's i3s can beat many Core 2 Quad CPUs and at least match the top models, if not beat them too. Most of the LGA 1155 Pentiums and Celerons are still great yet cheap upgrades coming from a Core 2 Duo, granted with Haswell seemingly right around the corner, it might be worthwhile to wait and see if the situation improves even more with Haswell.[/citation]
i3 did not beat the top core 2 quad yet in multi-threading, and i3 price isnt really cheap as well, it cost as much as a used core 2 quad, add in a RAM change + mobo change, that is nowhere near cheaper than changing core 2 quad alone.