Ok seriously come on guys, this has gotten out of hand. Yeah, the i7 is the top of the line, even above the Phenom II but the Phenom II is obviously not meant to compete with the i7 since its not even on the next gen platform, the AM3's haven't been released yet. The Q9550 and the Phenom II are obviously the competitors in this case and the Phenom II looks to be cheaper and will overclock well. Yes, AMD managed to compete again. No, not with the i7 but its obviously not expected to.

Continuing to argue this is rather pointless, don't you think?

Depending on prices, I'll probably change to the Phenom II. Its only smart moneywise and I can't afford to upgrade to the new generation.