I am a PC gamer, and I am trying to figure out what the difference between Dual core, and regular is.?
911975
Currently for games having a dual core will not increase the speed of the game dramatically because computer games are single threaded and thus only utilize one core.  However, the advantage of a dual core processor is that you can say; burn a CD while playing a game, or have one processor concentrate on the game while the other one handles windows and your other background programs.\n\nThe AMD x2 4200+ you are interested in is a good processor.  The 2.2 GHZ clock speed is actually way faster then your old P4 2.46 GHZ.  Because the AMD64 uses a shorter pipeline in its processor,then that of the P4. This makes the AMD64 more efficient and therefore faster.\n\nAs for the best dual core processors out now; the Intel core 2 duo is the best.  Any dual core will play better then any P4 processor.\nMy personal choice would be a AMD processor, but the Intel core 2 duo is the best for the money currently.
301985
Most of what you hear is hype - the core DUO machines are really use-full in two real world scenarios - if your a gamer or your into digital production. i.e. graphic design / video editing. Would you believe you can still function quite well With a machine running with a proc speed of around 1GHZ. Most are going to argue that this is false or pretentious - but, the hardware we are led to believe as "superior" is really the market attempting to get you to spend 3K on a MAC or duo setup. That type of hardware configuration is really exceptional in needed environments like super- computing or as mentioned above. To run normal computing like e-mail, word processing, DVD burning etc. you can get fine performance from machines, from today's standards, are "inferior" - my advice - don't buy into all the hype.
1067104
The AMD X2 processor is great for games, the X2 4200+ is a good one thats not too costly but great, 2.2Ghz and good size cache.
769985
The Intel Core 2  Duo processor is ripping the scene up right now.  Almost all computer manufactures are using this processor in their high end systems.\n\nWhen purchasing the computer make sure it says "Intel Core 2 Duo" and not "Intel Pentium D (or Dual-Core)."  That is an older model that uses much more power and delivers less performance.\n\nIt is okay for your Core 2 Duo processor to have a lower clock speed than its Pentium D counterpart.  (Ex, a Core 2 Duo at 2.4 GHz will outperform a Pentium D at 3.0 GHz).\n\nRemember that if you plan on gaming your video card is just as important as your processor.  If you  have enough money try and grab a Nvidia 8800 series card (totally rocking the gamer scene right now).\n\nGood luck and enjoy your new computer!\n\nUpdate:  A good company with reasonable prices and excellent support / warranty is Dell.  www.dell.com.  You might be able to get a cheaper system from a local computer dealer, or even cheaper if you build it yourself.  Be aware that this hot hardware requires at least some knowledge of cooling and power supplies if you plan on building yourself.
802198
The simplest answer is Intel Core 2 Duo is definitely faster than Intel Core Duo.  In other words, Core Duo is the first version of Intels dual core processors(2 processors in one) and Core 2 Duo is the second version.  \n\nThe longer answer is that within the last few years, everyone has realized that core speed (such as the 3.4Ghz or 1.86Ghz you mentioned) are not the only thing that determine speed.  Think of it like this, imagine that there were two autos you were thinking of buying.  One is a huge truck with a big engine, maybe a 6 Liter engine.  The other is a small sports car with only a 3 Liter engine.  Even though the truck has the bigger engine, the sports car will actually be faster.  So if speed is what you are after (which is really the main reason to buy a processor) then you will buy the sports car.  \n\nBottom line, buy the Core 2 Duo.
136553
you need a motherboard that supports dual processors and the processors have to be the same or you can get a dual core processor from AMD www.AMD.com or inte (AMD is better) but once again you need a motherboard that supports dual processors or has the same socket (if you already have and AMD athlon 64 then u can use the same motherboard)
23366
If you're looking for an inexpensive gaming computer, here are some things to consider (assuming you're not looking to overclock):\n\nGet an AMD CPU\n------------------\nGo with an AMD chip as they are usually more favored in gaming benchmarks.  AMD CPUs tend to be cheaper than Intel CPUs as well.\n\nDon't go with a dual-core CPU\n-----------------------------\nSome benchmarks have shown that dual-core CPUs don't perform that well in games compared to single-core CPUs.  That will probably change as more games come out that are aware of dual-core CPUs but that won't happen for years.  So stick with single-cores for now.  Besides, dual-cores tend to be more expensive.\n\nDon't go with RAID 0\n--------------------------\nRAID 0 is where you pair up two hard drives and data is read/written across both for faster hard drive times.  Hard drive times are not a factor in games as levels or maps are read from the hard drive and stored in RAM.  Loading a level two seconds faster than the other person won't give you good frame rates and what not.\n\nLoad up on RAM\n------------------\nFollowing the last recommendation, load up on RAM to have adequate space.  This means you won't have to hit the hard drive for data access because you didn't have enough RAM.\n\nGet the best videocard\n---------------------------\nAn obvious recommendation.  Get the best you can afford at the moment.  Right now, price for price, the Nvidia 6xxx series is better than ATI's X-series (X300, X600, X700, X800).  Same goes for Nvidia's 7xxx series versus ATI's X1-series (X1800), although the race is closer and can flip-flop depending on the game played.  \n\nMotherboard decisions\n--------------------------\nIf possible, go with a motherboard with a PCI-Express x16 slot.  If you can afford it get one with two PCI-E x16 slots (called SLI) as this opens more upgrade options down the road.  Otherwise, an AGP motherboard will do but can limit you in video card choices.  The best videocards are now made in PCI-Express forms.\n\nAlso, there are socket 754 and socket 939 AMD motherboards.  Main difference is that socket 754 AMD CPUs don't support dual-channel memory which can help a little with game performance.\n\nDual-channel is like RAID 0,  you get two of the same RAM and it enables fast read/writes.  Benchmarks have shown small increases in frame rate with dual-channel enabled.  Since it doesn't cost that much more for dual-channel (one 1GB versus two 512MB sticks) any help with frame rates is a good thing.\n\n****Here's some specs that I recommend****\n\n///Really inexpensive\nAthlon64 2800+ CPU (cheapest A64 available)\n1GB RAM (non dual-channel)\nNvidia 6600GT or 6800 video card\nSocket 754, AGP motherboard\nAny 7200 rpm hard drive\n\n///Still inexpensive\nAthlon64 3700+ or 4000+\n1-2GB dual-channel RAM\nNvidia 6800GS or 6800GT video card\nSocket 939, PCI-E motherboard\nAny 7200 rpm hard drive
493026
r u kidding, a Pentium D is a dual core processor, that means that u have two and i mean two 2.8Ghz processors which equal 5.6Ghz and u can burn ur DVDs and watch ur movies and surf the Internet in the same time because the load is divided between the two processors,go for the Pentium D off course, that if u can Handel it's price\nNote: u will need a different Motherboard if u want to go for dual core
800960
The 3.2ghz dual core processor adds speed.  Just makes your computer run alittle bit faster.  That is all that they are referring to when using ghz.  The higher the ghz's are, the faster the processor will run.
733421
A dual-core CPU combines two independent processors and their respective caches and cache controllers onto a single silicon chip, or integrated circuit. IBM's POWER4 was the first microprocessor to incorporate 2-cores on a single die. Various dual-core CPUs are being developed by companies such as Motorola, Intel and AMD, and are scheduled to appear in consumer products in 2005. \n\n\nIt's like having two processors, so you can do more cpu-intensive work at the same time, such as playing a video game while encoding a video, where before it would just really not work at all because one would be taking all of the cpu power, usually the video encoding, leaving your video game choppy.
1037732
Go for the dual core.  It is faster and more stable if you are like me who like to run many things in parallel.
286003
64bit processors have the ability to run 64 bit operating systems(i.e. windows xp pro 64bit), and use 64 bit applications. 64 bit allows more system memory, among other things. Yeah the fx55 amd is over $1000 and is "only" 2.6ghz. But it is the fastest cpu in existance right now, so that "justifies" it's price. It beats an intel 3.8ghz. A 64bit 1.8ghz cpu, which is equivalent to a p4 3ghz is about $150. Not that expensive, and way cheaper than intel's new 64 bit chips.
1129021
32bit version is for 32 bit processors, 64 bit version is for 64 bit processors.  A little more info about your system will help in determining which version you should download.  If you have any of the processors on these pages (see link) you can download the 64 bit version.  These are relatively new processors, past 2-3 yrs.  Otherwise download the 32 bit version.\n\nhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Page=2&N=2010340343+1266316752&Submit=ENE&Subcategory=343
957699
Run dxdiag. It should tell you about the RAM, CPU, OS(and build), and the DirectX version.
96163
No, you can not say this. It depends on the programming of the application. In several benchmark tests a higher clocked single core CPU is still faster than a dual core CPU.\nI found a good article where the two processors Intel Pentium D 820 (dual core) and Pentium 4 670 (single core HT) are put in opposition.\nhttp://techreport.com/reviews/2005q2/pentiumd-820/index.x?pg=1
878326
At the moment, it is doubtful if a dualcore will make much difference, since most software still needs to be rewritten to use both cores.\nOn the other hand: I have installed a dualcore about a month ago, and I do notice that when I have certain programs running which cause a heavy load on one of the cores, the other core is still available, thus keeping my system running more smoothly and allowing me to do more with it at the same time.
979390
First thing we would need to know - How much money are you willing to spend?\n\nI wouldn't worry about dual core's too much.  Sure they are extremely powerful but for just playing games you can get by just fine with just one processor.\n\nFor a gaming PC, you'll want:\n- Plenty of RAM.  Go for 2GB I'd say.\n- A graphics card with plenty of memory.\n- A good sound card.  5.1 surround sound at least\n- A good speed processor\n- A large hard drive.  Modern games can take up several GB's of space.\n\n\nI have a PC with a 3Ghz processor, 1GB of ram and a 512MB graphics card.  It can still handle most modern games (e.g. HL2) even though it's 2 years old.  So don't go too overboard :)