There's a whole misnomer thing going that quads are bad for gaming, since clock wise, C2Ds are faster and this is what games need. Yep, its true that a Q6600 will be slower than an E8400 in 95% of games, but the margin isn't much. Its playable FPS that you should be looking at. A quad gives a lot more flexibility in terms of multi tasking, which I personally love.

If you want future proofing, look at the Q9300 or the Q6600. If you want raw FPS in games then look at the E8500.

^^^who said quads aren't meant for/cannot do 24/7? Cool them well, and watch them go...