For non-overclockers, the E3-1230 may actually be the best chip for the price of all the Sandy Bridge line. The actual brother chip to the 2600/2600K would be the E3-1270. Those are perfect low to mid-range server chips.
However, for a workstation ... with no more than 16-32GB of RAM, the 2600K clocked mildly over the Xeon runs away for the same amount of money. (ie. it is easy to get 4.4Ghz with the 2600K which is nearly 20% faster than the stock Xeon).
I'd only choose a Xeon for a server, or a multi-socket workstation; even for multi-socket you'll have to choose a different series ($$), the E3-1200 series is uniprocessor limted. I don't even count the E3-1200s as true Xeons. In my book, Xeons have always been multi-socket capable. At least all of the ones I've owned (Netburst, Woodcrest) are multi-socket. It is Intel marketing an artificially limited piece of silicon as a Xeon (at a great price, so you really cant complain), but it lets you know just how much profit margin there is in the $750-$1000 they charge for multi-processor capable chips. Over the years I have invested in Xeons, and in the end, they depreciate the most. I have a mix of 2.0Ghz - 3.0Ghz Conroe and Woodcrest Xeons and they are worth about the same as the Core 2 desktop chips of the same line, yet when we purchased them they were 2-3x the price.
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