well quad core are finally being used, such as gta IV(uses three to four cores)  

These upcoming CPUs are not general purpose chips for average users. And it is very unlikely that they will be priced as such either.

But it is great that they will be out there for the professionals who can actually use the additional processing power (rendering, HD video production, high res image editing, etc.). In this instance, it will probably be gaming that LEAST optimizes the upcoming multicore processors as they will be uncommonly used in even high end gaming rigs.

Case in point: Skulltrail based gaming rigs are few and far in between due to the cost as well as the low benefit of a 2 CPU 8 core solution relative to gaming. There just aren't any games that optimally make use of 8 cores.

Arriving in 2010? It will likely be quite some time longer before the technology becomes mainstream enough to be utilized for mass market gaming.

That being said, I look forward to it (unfortunately, I will probably end up building at least 2-3 more systems before that happens).

damn that was quick there almost chatching up with the Cell

Slow down frick, I just built my quad core a couple of months ago.

I can see I'm way behind the times.

They need to put more effort on developing great GPUs, not CPUs.

Today the cheapest ATI 4870X2 cost $650 here in Sweden. :'(

These are for servers, folks...my friend has a 6 core Xeon for his TF2 servers, having such a processor is not for general use.

Some games barely utilize 2 cores, let alone 4.

And that's because currently game development still hinges almost exclusively on GPU/VGA card development. Generally, you get more mileage out of the latest cards rather than the latest CPUs when it comes to end user apps like games.

But those new multicore CPUs will be a boon for research, server usage and content production, whether it be music, CGI, digital imagery, video encoding/editing, etc.

Games will probably be the last sector to see big benefits relative to the additional costs.

Yes. That's why AMD will survive as a company even though their CPU line fails - their GPUs are (provably) the best in the world.

I think AMD will survive on the basic standpoint that their CPUs are being used in more budget preconfig PCs than Intel.

You do pay a premium for the "Intel Inside" and for most users who are simply looking for the most functionality for the lowest price, there isn't going to be significant difference in terms of practical use. Especially not when most of those PCs are only being used for general purpose computing.

The only thing that may change this in the future, is the integration of the GPU and CPU into one unit, but that's even further down the road and really doesn't effect anyone buying a PC over the next few years.

The only thing AMD really has to worry about is maintaining a relatively clean balance sheet; it has little to do with the viability of their chips.