Help Understanding Processors

Well lets see, like yoshi said, dual core is pretty much standard right now, what that is is pretty much self explanatory, two processors in one (there are also quad cores with four). It then divys up the processes between the two cores, making multitasking and really anything much faster. Because of that you're gunna notice that the speed (Ghz) of the Dual core is typically lower than a single core of the same price (but theoretically u get twice as much much out of a dual core). In a laptop i would definetally go with a dual core (because space and cooling is limited), but in a tower PC u can get away with a single core if your strapped for money, because Desktops stay much cooler. Your games are really going to shine on a 2.13 or 2.4 dual core processor

 Hope i wasn't to redundant

If I am looking at getting a new processor, what kinds of things should I be looking at? Is the only thing that matters how many GHz it has, and what is considered fine for gaming? Also, what do things like dual core mean?
myspence_basic

The processing speed of CPUs these days (which would be the GHz) should not be looked at as a big factor in deciding which processors are better. Technology is becoming so advanced that a Core 2 Duo E6600 at 2.4 GHz can do so much more than a Pentium 4 at 3.4 GHz. If you research CPUs enough you'll notice that each one has a "manufacturing tech" which is a number followed by "nm" which stands for nanometers. For a Core 2 Duo E6600, the manufacutring tech is 65 nm, which means each line of data on the CPU chip is only 65 nm apart from each other. The smaller the number the better because then you can fit more power and technology on the same surface area.

Now for dual cores. You can think of a core like a brain. All processors used to have only one core, or one "brain." Now the average processor has dual (two) cores, or two "brains." Manufacturers almost always multiply their last amount by 2, so the next-gen processors have quad (four) cores, or four "brains." The benefit is pretty obvious: the more cores, or brains, the more processing power on one chip. I hope this explanation answers your questions.

Thanks guys, it helps a lot.

(sorry for the thread res, just thought they needed to be thanked) 

You're most welcome :)

IDK, considering the processing capabilities of using only one core on a dual core processor, since few games are even multi-core capable at this time, getting a cheap, but powerful single core processor isn't really a bad idea. Something like an Athlon 64 4000 would still tear even a Core 2 Duo apart in a single-core capable application. And when it comes to multi-tasking, such a high yield processor manages on it's own. It's better to play BF2 or 2142 with Windows Media Player running on the Athlon 64 4000, than to do the same tasks on a Turion X2, simply because the programs at hand are not equiped to multi-thread into more than one CPU. Damn I kinda wish I had my Athlon 64 4000 powered Gateway lappy still................but then again, I'm dual core ready now, as more and more games and applications are getting on the multi-threading bandwagon, like Crysis :D Now all I need for Crysis is an Asus XG.mouthforbathory

athlon 64 beating core 2 duo? uhh no. all benches show that the core 2 duo's are superior, and the matches for them are the high end athlon 64 x2 and the fx series, 60 and above. it doesn't mean that since they are multi-core that they are gimping each logical processor, they are running at full function. As for the game utilizing multi-core, the chip makers are pushing the game developers to utilize the technology, and we have quite a few multi-threaded games already, stalker, oblivion, supreme commander, and games are slowly but surely being patched to use this. 

here we have intel with their game dev tool: http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20070410comp.htm?iid=pr1_releasepri_20070410m

 AMD is doing the same things with events that showcase the technology and are pushing the agenda. It's naive to push the single-core idea when the multi-cores have outpaced them and then some.

use google to find an answer, web is full of infoj3ninja10