what to look for in a cpu

[N0toriou5]

What should i be looking for in a gaming cpu?

 

[hmammen]

Well, what do you have now....
If you want to go the Intel path then take a look at these-

Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 Allendale 1.8GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail

Those are all great for gaming or multitasking.

If you want to go the AMD route-

Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Brisbane 2.3GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - Retail
Newegg.com - AMD Opteron 165 Denmark 1.8GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor - Retail
Newegg.com - AMD Opteron 144 Venus 1.8GHz 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor - Retail

Just depends on which motherboard you have and what your budget is.

 

[N0toriou5]

Thanks for the links, but what i meant was which aspects of a cpu make it better/worse? Like Cache, ghz ect.

 

[b1gapl]

GHz doesn't matter anymore, in the era of dual core or multi-core processors. All of those CPUs, that hmammen linked are all good for gaming.

 

[hmammen]

well...most good processors these days have 2x 1mb L2 caches....which is great for overclocking and gaming. The new AMD processors coming out this fall will have 2 x 2mb L2 caches. Even Better. But yes, ghz these days dont matter anymore. Say you have an Pentium 4 3.0ghz and I have and opteron 170 2.0ghz. Well on good air cooling I can overclock my Opty to atleast 3.0+ghz if not more. And you have to remember that it is dual core and the P4 isn't. Even at stock speeds a dual core will work or seem faster then that P4. Hope this helped, maybe not lol.

 

[zmatt]

that opty165 you listed is a great chip. I have one and i couldn't be happier.

 

[hmammen]

that opty165 you listed is a great chip. I have one and i couldn't be happier.

As do I, they are great chips....and they dont overheat at all....takes alot to heat up.

 

[Apokalipse]

Thanks for the links, but what i meant was which aspects of a cpu make it better/worse? Like Cache, ghz ect.

cache: depends on what programs you are using
GHZ: can only be used to compare the same type of CPU
number of cores: also dependant on what programs you use. Also how many you use at once.

Basic rule of thumb, go look at some benchmarks to find out how they stack up against each other. Then decide how much you want to spend, and get the best one in your budget.

 

[immy3]

I think currently Intel's Core2Duos are better than their AMD counterparts. Correct me if I'm wrong though.

 

[Apokalipse]

I think currently Intel's Core2Duos are better than their AMD counterparts. Correct me if I'm wrong though.

Currently the best CPU's are the X6800 and QX6800
the AMD 6000+ is not far off, and will sometimes beat the E6600

but AMD's new CPU's are going to come out mid this year, which should be significantly better than the Core 2's
Currently, the K8 CPU's have an IPC of 3 clock cycles, where the Core 2's have an IPC of 4

the AMD K10 CPU's, according to AMD, will have an IPC of 4.
Combined with their onboard memory controller, 4GHZ hypertransport speed, shared L3 cache, and various enhancements to improve prefetching and latencies, a 2.9GHZ K10 should really give the Core 2's a run for their money.

*edit*
N0toriou5, your sig image is broken.