Personally, at that price point, if you have the choice between dual or quad core, I'd go quad. The per-core performance is going to be close, almost certainly the Intel is going to be a little faster, but you are doubling up the number of cores.
I'm running a tri-core Phenom right now, and they are good solid CPU's. Maybe they run hotter, but really, we're talking about one computer in a house here, not a datacenter. I use the stock cooler, and the CPU never reports temps above 55-60 celsius.
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-Scott
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