core 2 duo vs i3 1156

[Diet_Pepsi]

I am looking to build a dedicated mame computer.  I have read many posts that suggest a C2D is the best option for this.  I have an opportunity to pick up an i3 (1156 platform) on the cheap.  If I disable hyper-threading and overclock, how does this compare with an overclocked C2D for running mame?  Would I be giving up any performance?

Spending an extra $50 here or there doesn't really matter to me -- I am just looking for the setup that will give the best mame performance.  I plan on running mame 64 under win 7.

[Donkbaca]

http://www.mameui.info/Bench.htm

[Diet_Pepsi]

I did see that study, but I was confused as it is primarily C2D's with only one reference to an i7, and no i3's for comparison.

Is it safe to assume that the i3 would be as fast as the i7 given that mame only uses 2 cores?  And is it safe to assume that I can do simple math (i.e. multiply the i7 results by 0.75 to compare clock for clock with the C2D)?

Is the i3 designed with the same basic architecture as the C2D for mame purposes?