You guys trip me out. Do you really think any CPU in the planet can compete with a brain? Honestly? Do you have any concept on how complex the human brain is?
Computers suffer all the flaws that the binary system does. Binary sucks at storing images, it sucks at being random, and it sucks with decimal numbers. Anything that works great in binary (like addition, subtraction, and multiplication) works considerably faster on modern CPUs than the brain. For example, a Core i7 920 with HT enabled can count to over 90 million on each core in a second. Combined, it can count from 0 to 720 million in just one second.
Humans can't get even close because, figuratively speaking, 0-9 are alien concepts to the brain. The brain must calculate a quantity and assign it a value then interpret the value via language, announce it, and repeat. In this regard, the brain operates about 240,000,000 times slower than a Core i7 920.
Both have distinct advantages and disadvantages. Neural networks (brains) have the ability to store, interpret, and recall images at a rate at least three times faster than a CPU. The more complex the image, the greater the lead. Neural networks also have the ability to learn and repair damage (to some extent) which CPUs do not. Neural networks are pretty lousy at math though where CPUs kick ass.
No doubt, a merger of the two would be ideal but that means heading into territory I'm not so certain we should be (you've seen or at least heard of all the sci-fi material out there depicting the possibilities).
Oh, computers can't make an curve either--especially with digital monitors.
Some argue that we are all capable of solving very complex math problems, it's just that we don't know we are doing it. The most common example given is the ability to catch a ball thrown at you. You have to figure out how fast the ball is going, the path it is taking, and then where to put your hand to catch it. There are many variables in this that are also calculated.
That is figured using one's understanding of how one expects a ball to fly. Just like how one expects that stepping off a cliff means the end of you. The brain doesn't handle the situation with a bunch of equations, mathematics, variables, algebra, etc. It handles it from a very simple perspective that is learned through repetition.
Take, for example, a puppy. You don't have to teach it all of the concepts of math to make it catch a ball. You have to toss a ball at its face until it figures out it has to open its mouth and catch it. Do that for a few days and, if the dog is coordinated enough, it can pull off some pretty remarkable moves to catch that ball in short time. Not because it understands how gravity works--it understands how you throw it. Throw it a different way like put a curve on it and, just like a batter, there's a good chance it won't be able to catch it. The brain either can't register the rotation of the ball fast enough or the eyes simply can't pick up the detail to make that decision. Either way, dog and human alike are fooled. Throw a curve ball every time and viola, both hit/catch it.
Acting out expectations is a simple task for a brain to achieve (requires no "computations"). A computer, on the other hand, could use a high speed camera to tell you the trajectory of a ball just by watching the laces and position of the ball over a few frames. The only difficulty there is programming the computer to "find" the ball and then "find" the laces. The calculations are readily handled by the CPU's architecture with some simple instructions based on fluid dynamics, velocities, and accelerations.