AMD keeps saying it's pitting its three-core Phenoms against Intel's dual-cores, and this PR talk is finally starting to make sense, at least following the recent Heka launch.

It's top three-core CPU, the multiplier-unlocked Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition, clocked at 2.8GHz, now costs just $144, and this is a pretty good deal. Mind you, unlike the old 65nm parts, the new 45nm Hekas are very overclockable, and even a good motherboard which will let you play around with it comes quite cheap. Phenom II X3 720 can overclock to over 4GHz and you can even enable the forth core with a touch of a bios.

For about the same cash you can get an Intel E7500 clocked at 2.93GHz. Sure, it's faster and has a lower TDP, but it also has one core less, and to get the most out of it you need a pricier board and memory.

You can find the listing here.