The most telling clue that high clocked dual cores will likely max this game out is that the AMD recommended requirements is a tri core, not a quad core. If the recommended really was a quad, then Rockstar should've put Phenom x4 instead of x3 on the AMD side to match Intel's quad. Since Intel doesn't have a tri core, they're just choosing the weakest quad on their side at the time the requirements were finalized.
The minimum likewise is what's needed to run it at console quality.
And on that note, The truly final barebone update:
I will get the x2 5600 Brisbane as it is the highest clocked AMD at 65w, which is the same power as my single core 3500 is right now, but way better performance. There are AMD Quads with 65 w power consumption, but the clock speed is pathetic at under 2 ghz each core. They will have to am