Dunno, I've notice it being a pretty minimal step up in price. Over a few generations the E3-1230 (quad core/8 threads) was cheaper then the similar I7. The c

Dunno, I've notice it being a pretty minimal step up in price. Over a few generations the E3-1230 (quad core/8 threads) was cheaper then the similar I7. The clock speed is slightly less (100-200 Mhz), but I figure that's reasonable if you are going for a nice, cool, and reliable CPU. So I save $50 on the CPU and that just about covers the ram/motherboard premium.