I don't ignore the facts either.
i7 is faster than Phenom 2, some things more than others. However the only actual taxing thing my comp does is gaming, a P2/C2Q/i7 all run everything else I do just fine. At games the P2 does remarkably well. At low res with the cpu doing all the work the i7 dominates no doubt, but at real playable settings the P2 does as well or sometimes better in my eyes!
I say better in that P2 is notorious for having a higher min framerate in games than i7, and I find the min to be more important than max. I use vsync so as long as my sustained fps is 45-60@1920x1200 I am quite happy. I find the occasional slowdown to be much more annoying then a slightly lowered avg fps.
In actual use I definitely notice the amazing lack of slowdowns in my games, I say amazing considering my video card was 105 new and 85-90 nowadays.
If I was loaded would I have gone with a fully loaded i7-920 box (due to how well they all oc, Id still take a d0 920 over the pricier options) with the best mobo and triple channel ddr3-1600 or better. Unfortunately I live in the real world; Fortunately AMD is there to hook me up with something almost as good for a significantly lower cost. Not just the CPU cost either, AMD went out of their way to make sure the Phenom 2's could use ddr2 or 3, so people lookin for max perf can blaze out on ddr3 while the rest of us take advantage of the amazing price of 2gb ddr2-1066 sticks!
So yeah I am kind of excited about amd lately, they seem to have really tailored their business model to taking top of the line performance to the masses. Throughout most of AMD vs Intel history, intel has usually had the top dog flagship, but AMD always has something great for those of us who haven't been so lucky financially!
Also just the existence of amd and intel, and how their price wars and competition drive innovation while pushing prices down constantly, is proof that competitive free market capitalism is the way to go for society.
Everyone is so obsessed with the president and powerful centralized government (while hating on capitalism daily), it's nice to have flat out proof that competitive free market capitalism (computer market shining example) is far superior to having a socialist government agency determining the price and distribution of goods & services (uhm, real estate, cars, energy, banking & finance).
Laissez-faire ftw, if you are in the know you realize this, for both the poor and the rich and everyone else. Capitalism cured hunger/starvation and elevated the common person up from being a peasant barely earning enough to feed themselves & family, though most of our history books teach it with a different flavor now (like greed = evil, despite the fact it is normal and healthy to want the best for yourself and those you love, and with capitalism you can work towards the best for yourself and help society as a whole as well).
Sorry got a little OT there. I am a STRONG supporter of free market capitalism though, and we are computer enthusiasts so we know how good it works better than most as far as constantly resulting in decreasing prices and increased power/quality. I like to get other comp people to think about this when possible, as our society really REALLY needs more people that understand and appreciate capitalism for what it is, simply free people making their own choices about what they do with their cash and their lives (not rule by the evil greedy richest as most socialists believe)
I dont do econ rants often thankfully heh
(reason I miss DFI LT boards compared to the DK ones 
