Hai guys.

Anyway, I was talking to people from work today (who know MUCH more about computers than I do) asking for advise about which processor I should get for a gaming machine. My question basically was, is a dual core 2.66 (spec. E6750) faster than a, say, 4.0 single core.

Now, I understand that having a 2.66 duo doesn't exactly mean it's going to give 5.32 Ghz for zie game, but would rather work two things simultaneously, diverting most of its power to zie game and the rest to running stuff like Windows and all the compulsory background crap we usually have running.

So... Can someone please explain to me in layman's terms WHY a dual core 2.66 is better/faster than a single core 4.0 (specifically for a GAMING machine - I understand why it's better for aps like Photoshop or whatever a bit more clearly)?

Yah. Excuse me if I said something awfully dumb, I kind of suck @ hardware.

Core2duo at 2 ghz is probably faster than a Pentium 4 at 4 ghz.

A Core 2 Duo running at 2.66 GHz with one core disabled will probably blow a 4 GHz P4 out of the water. Clock speeds are going down because architectures are far more efficient and production processes are down to 65 and (soon) 45nm.

Dual core isn't necessarily faster for gaming. Right now, there's almost no benefit since most games are single threaded. However, it will help alleviate performance dips due to disk access (either for loading sounds during the game or external processes) and anything else running in the background.

The game which are multithreaded, however, are growing in number, and generally perform pretty badly with out another core.

Yes, although they are probably poor performers on single cores not because single core systems aren't as well supported, but because there's so much stuff that a single core can't handle it.

Several games support multi-core. For some reason, however, the settings that enable that support are not enabled by default. Elder Scrolls: Oblivion is a good example. It's coded to support multi-core, but you have to add several parameters to the config file to enable it.

Supreme Commander also takes full advantage of my quad-core.

If you are considering a multi-core machine, go for it. They are well worth it and some are very easily overclocked.

I like my quad core. Winamp no longer skips when I am gaming cos it gets its own core. Genius.

Does Windows set that up on its own, or..? I have a dual core, but have no idea what uses which core..

Windows handles it. Although I don't think it dedicates a core to a single thread. The scheduler usually gives the thread to whichever core is free.

Do PC manufacturers still sell computers with single-core P4 processors in them? Everywhere I look it's Core 2 this and Core2 that, with no mention of "pentium" anywhere anymore.

I'm sure the budget POS brands do.

Dual core is beautiful for gaming, even if the game doesn't take advantage of it. One core gets the game, the other gets all your other background crap (AIM, mIRC, winamp, etc).

Windows typically handles core assignments. The only time that changes is if a program specifically requests something, or if you go into Task Manager and set an affinity for a process.

Some of Dell's low-end models offer Semprons and Celerons..haven't found a P4 yet.