My observation for the new Sandybridge E is that they are not increasing the cores and thread, but increase cache from 12MB - 15MB and turbo from 3.73-3.9Ghz.  So, it seems the trend may be to increase cache and turbo frequency instead of increasing cores (may not have significant performance gains?).  I will do some research and blog about it.

end GCU Inc geek.

If you want the best for your gaming like Starcraft 2. I suggest not too fast CPU processor, but go all out in the video card. If you are playing Civilization or some less graphic intense game, I suggest a faster processor than high end video card like a Geforce GTX
 580/570. Memory is fine, anything with 8GB or 12GB DDR3 with high bandwidth .

I have a AMD Asus with 2 CF AMD Radeon 6870.  If you want to have higher Starcraft 2 framing rate, upgrade video card instead of upgrading the whole unit.  You need to make sure you have 2 or 3 or 4 16X/8X PCIE 2.0 slots before you can get another one. The motherboard will also tel you if you support SLI or CrossFire or both.

This is my first blog about this site. It just came operational today. I added some new items, top of the class hardware.  CPU, memory, hard drive and computers that will blow all competitors away, especially overclock till 4.5Ghz with 4 Asus GTX 580.