Core duo

So i'm building a second pc just for games, and i've heard a lot of good things about Intel's core duo line for this, anyone have any experience with this?  The prices aren't bad either, between tigerdirect and newegg there's always one on sale.  If you have any other recommendations (besides no vista, obviously) for a gaming pc, please throw that in too.  Mind you, i'm on a budget, maybe around 1300 dollars max.

Yeah I was thinking to wait until I can afford one decent 8800, then just SLI it up later when I can afford a second.  The X1950 Seems nice too, a bit pricey as well...  But hey, i'm using an X1550PCI now so I should take what I can get.