If you have been waiting for the “next big thing” before you upgrade to a faster machine, the latest “next big thing” is here. It is Intel’s newest processor, with 6 cores. Because it has hyperthreading, it can run 12 threads at the same time:

The Core i7 980X Review: Intel’s First 6-Core CPU

I have to say that Intel’s Core i7 980X is the first Extreme Edition CPU that I’ve ever gotten excited about. In the past you used to have to choose between more cores or high clock speeds. Thanks to power gating and Gulftown’s PMU, those days are over. The 980X gives you its best regardless of what you throw at it. Lightly threaded apps benefit from the larger L3 cache and heavily threaded apps take advantage of the extra cores. The performance advantage you get at the low end ranges from 0 – 7%, and on the high end with well threaded code you’re looking at an extra 20 – 50% over the Core i7 975 [4 cores, 8MB cache, same price]. Even more if you compare to a pedestrian processor. There are a few cases where the 980X does lose out to the Core i7 975 thanks to its higher latency L3 cache, but for the most part it’s smooth sailling for the 6-core beast.

It’s a great article if you are a into high-end processors. It compares the performance of the newest chip all the way back to the very first “Extreme Edition” processor from five years ago, which had 2 cores.

See also:

Look at the size of the heat sink in the following video – 130 watts is a lot of heat to dissipate: