Wonder how close pricing is? The $150 i5 750 (from MC) is the benchmark. Not everyone has one close to them but it always comes up
Since you are mentioning street pricing....
I can buy a Core i5/mobo combo deal from Fry's for $199-$229.
If the same trend holds true the Core i3 and mobo combo will go for $129-$149.
But here is where things get really interesting:
If I want to overclock the Core i5 750 to 4 Ghz I need at least another 100 watts on my PSU and a Tower cooler to make it quiet. This drives up the price probably another $40-$80. ($30 to $60 for the tower cooler and another $10-20 for a PSU that is 100-150 watts stronger depending on the level of the PSU)
If I overclock a Core i3 to 4 Ghz I'm sure a stock Core i5 750 cooler will be sufficient for the same level of quietness as long as the IGP isn't running at the same time.
On top of that i3 with hyperthreading probably will cover most of the games out now till Bulldozer arrives since none of them have been optimized yet. (GTA IV only scales 30% with quad core)
So the total difference in price for Core i5 750 vs Core i3 (when both are overclocked) ends up being much larger than the MSRP difference suggests. Not only that but the Core i5 750 at 4 Ghz is going to put a lot more heat into my case (reducing component life) as well as drive up my energy bills more.
Too bad Intel decided not give Consumers the choice of 32nm Core i5 750 because that would have negated a lot of what I am saying. Maybe Bulldozer will force them to make more competitive products in the midrange instead of putting most of their eggs in the low end basket like they are doing with Core i3.