Is the Opteron a Real Sledgehammer? What about Athlon Prices?

So the Opteron looks like it delivers, in spades. The introductory prices are decent, and I'm blown away by the shake out in the Athlon XP market look at this:
TCWO
XP 3000+ $326
XP 2800+ $228
XP 2700+ $256
XP 2600+ $153
XP 2500+ $128 Sweet spot OCAddiction Review of 2500+
XP 2400+ $103
XP 2200+ $80
XP 2100+ $79
XP 2000+ $64
XP 1900+ $67
XP 1800+ $59

The 2500+ is a Barton which from what I've read has an edge with a larger on board cache...
Anyway the Opteron looks like the way to go for a server, here's some links to reviews and summaries.
Ace's Hardware:
Opteron: Pushing x86 to the Limit

We think it is. Twenty percent better 3DSMax performance, by far the fastest in Matrix multiplication, up to 38% better MySQL performance, up to 40% better Java application performance (SPECjbb) the Opteron offers superior performance to a lot of people in the HPC, offline rendering, and server markets. If you're developing software for your own use, you can achieve a significant boost if you compile with an x86-64 compiler as we clearly illustrated. If you are using 64-bit integer data, the performance boost can range from significant to spectacular.

I'll be following nvidia's entry into the server chipset market with the nForce3 Pro:
Opteron Chipsets Continued - Introducing nForce3 Professional

Launching today is the nForce3 Pro 150; since the Opteron already has the memory controller taken care of, NVIDIA really only had to integrate their AGP, Ethernet, IDE and sound controllers on a single chip to make the chipset complete. The nForce3 Pro 150 features 8X AGP support, NVIDIA's 10/100 MAC (virtually identical to what's in the nForce2) and basic AC'97 audio support (no APU). The Pro 150 supports three Ultra ATA 133 channels, with the third channel able to hook up to a Serial ATA bridge in order to bring non-native Serial ATA support to the chipset today. Because of the target market for the chipset, the nForce3 Pro 150 does not feature any integrated graphics.