what about non overclocked?
Let's figure it out (assuming you are not doing encryption):
980x: 6 x 3.33 GHz = 19.98 GHz + turbo boost.
Octocore MP: 8 x 2.33 GHz = 18.08 GHz.
Octocore MP: 8 x 2.66 GHz = 21.28 GHz.
So, yes the unoverclocked Gulftown will beat any day the Octocore 2.26 GHz.
It may be too close to call against the 2.66 GHz Xeons.
Overclocked:
980x: 6 x 4 GHz = 24 GHz or even
980x: 6 x 4.3 GHz = 25.8 GHz
Octocore MP: 8 x 2.93 GHz = 23.44 GHz
The only Apple MP model that can beat the overclocked Gulftown would be the dual six-core Xeons.
This does not even take into account that you can run your memory faster than Apple usually does.