Yea tech. has moved pretty far and pretty fast. My last processor was the Athlon 64 3800+ which cost me $320. My currently processor is easily twice as fast, dual core, and only $220.
When I bought my 3800 it was at the time in the middle of the ladder (with the 4000, FX53, FX55, FX57 ahead), and even then it was $320.
My E6400 is running at E6800 speeds at only 38 degrees (Can you believe that?) with next to normal voltage and FSB settings. It is a pity that AMD was happy sitting on its rear end.
Do you guys have 939 motherboards? If so, then AMD are ironing the 939 processors out and you can get ok deals. The X2 4800 can be found for about $280 -- which is still ridiculously high. Or the X2 4600 can be found for about $200 and over clocked. I think the X2 4800 has a higher L2 cache.
The X1950pro from ATi is a damn good card for just over $200.