Looking for a new CPU/motherboard for Summer rebuild

[Kato76]

Hello all and it's that time in my life to rebuild my gaming computer. So right now I am a bit undecided on my CPU purchase and looking for a little bit of insight from anyone around here

The two I have in mind are the AMD Athlon 64 3700+ or the AMD atholon 64 3800+ (remember I have a budget) the only real difference between these tow are about 100 bucks and that the 3700 is athlon 64 and the 3700 is sthlon 64 X2. What is the x2 I'm sure it doesn't stand for X-men 2 the movie. and what advantages does it offer for a simple gamer like me..

Also, would Asus A8N NVIDIA Socket 939 Motherboard be an advantage to getting the lesser of the two CPU's

any help would be appreciated thanks

 

[SHAWN]

3700 = SINGLE CORE
3800X2 = DUAL CORE

 

[snick]

right now, i'd say the 3700 would play games better than the dual core 3800.
it's straight up faster in speed. most games right now do not utilize the dual cores, so you're not getting much from the 2nd core.
however, games like UT2007 will be creatd with teh dual core processors in mind. so....in the future, dual core will probably perform better than the single cores....i guess it depends on how long you want to keep your setup. probably be a good 2 years before more than a couple games are designed with dual core in mind. if you dont mind getting a new processor in a year or 2, i'd go with the 3700, and get a MB that supports both dual and single...just my thoughts
single cores:
AMD 3700+ $233
AMD 3800+ $282

 

[Kato76]

ok so what would a dual core do for me vs a single core?

 

[zerodayATK]

better for mutli tasking ... of your like my mom than you will take advantage of the dual cores .. but games in the future will be scripted for dual core !!

 

[FghtinIrshNvrDi]

it's all about how much you want to spend. If you can afford a dual core, buy it. if not, then don't worry about it. Remember, when gaming, the graphics card is your #1 priority. The CPU comes second.

Ryan