It's good to see ATI and nVidia slugging it out and delivering better and better parts. Now I hope AMD can do something with their CPUs to compete with Intel's Core 2.

The reviews I have read suggest that the AMD dual core outperforms the Intel one.

In that case you're either reading old reviews concerning the Pentium D line, or are simply receiving false information. The Core 2 line out-performs the Athlon 64 line. It really is as simple as that (and not surprising, given the age of AMD's offering).