I have an i5 2500 (No K... I don't overclock and Z68 wasn't out yet, so I didn't see the point.) As far as the clock frequency, I know the base clock is at 3.3 GHz, but there is a nice feature of either the processor or my ASRock motherboard that I didn't read about before getting them. The CPU ratio is altered dynamically. From what I remember, it tends to hang around 3.4 when under stress, but I've seen it peak at 3.7, though I might have seen it hit 3.8 once... don't remember for sure. Since it balances off heat/stress, the temperature never really gets above 35 C. If I ever want more power, I can always force it up to an even 4.0
On the other hand, I am much more interested in architecture than Hertz. As for the trend hitting computers, it hit years ago, it just has to develop more. The average computer buyer doesn't care about all the components, they (yes, I'm using the singular 'they' your English teacher was lying to you when they said it is improper) just care that the product does what they want. But that trend doesn't mean component specs won't matter, nerds will always want to learn specs. Advances just mean that we have to think a little bit more than comparing two numbers to see which is higher.