No no no.......I'm not even a gamer, no time for that working 12hrs a day, 7 days a week. CPU is only $161 (2.4ghz, HT, 800mhz bus). Even though I'm using a 1.8ghz Northwood now @2.4ghz, I MIGHT get one of the 2.4ghz/800 CPU's now, to put on a new 865/875 mobo......(since the Prescott CPU's will probably be too high for a year or so) and IF any current mobo's I'm looking at will support a Prescott. I probably won't get a mobo now if with CERTAINTY the Prescott is going to take a completely new platform; I'd just wait since I'd probably ending up using a non Prescott supported 865/875 for only a ~year. Hell yeah I'd get a mobo now that DEFINITELY supports it, heck that's what I'm looking for and trying to find out! I never said anything to the contrary. I think most everyone's goal; mine certainly is, is to try and get something that is not going to be paraded off in the ever growing quagmire of obsolescence in 6 months...or less. Finding a 865/875 mobo NOW that will with CERTAINTY support a Prescott, is what I'm looking for. Then I could get it, maybe the CPU mentioned above and use that until the Prescotts come down in price.
My point in the comparison of the two CPU's in question you mentioned, is that you're going to see a lot more performance increase than the hypothetical ".000123213 seconds faster" you mentioned. I realize you were speaking figuratively or facetiously, but it would be a marked improvement in performance. That's a big jump: 2.6ghz/512k, to 3.4ghz/1mb.