Why are you so fixated on the number of cores, while disregarding everything else such as IPC, feature improvements, and process technology that goes into these CPUs?
I think these are very important, absolutely. But these advancements are not in contrast with a more core policy. We could also say that these advancements are an help for the more core policy.
If you want more cores, get a Bulldozer, or get a dual socket board.
I can get also a quad socket board, but 24 cores are still better than 16.
