Oh the woes of upgrading! Dual-Core CPU or not?

[TheDyingInformant]

Hey guys,

I'm looking for some advice on what kind of CPU I should get. I want to get a BRAND NEW PC, totally start from scratch, I've had this one since 2002 and its been great but quite limited in some ways. I just want a fresh start.

Now, I don't want any slowch on PERFORMANCE. But let me make clear, that I am not a HARDCORE PC gamer, playing everything new that comes out. In fact, I play PC games in a rather casual sense, so I'm not looking for 100+fps in games (seriously, do your eyes even notice after 60?) to brag to anybody. I don't really buy PCs in that way. The newest ones I own are The Sims 2 and Half Life 2 (the latter which I couldn't play that well due to some stuttering problems). However, I don't want any problems when I play them, I'm also working on 3D modelling, Photoshop, and I plan to get into some serious video-editing (Machinima) work. This all requires a very FAST CPU (and ram). But what I'm really confused about here, is Dual Core verses Single Core.

I'm worried you see, because of THIS. I don't want my PC to be any big headacke to deal with. I don't want the single-core games that I play to be really screwed up after spending a fortune on a new machine. Like I say, I do need PERFORMANCE, I want no slowch of a PC, and I'm willing to spend the money (but still efficiently, not throw my money away), but its not like I'm going to play a game while burning a DVD and downloading stuff at the same time. I do multi-task but usually I don't like distractions, so modelling and gaming I only do one thing at a time. When I multi-task its usually instant messaging while browsing the net and checking email. those aren't really CPU heavy things.

And as far as dual-core being all that even for games, does it even make a big difference? First of all, for most games these days, alot of it is dependant on your videocard and your Ram AND the CPU. It's not like the CPU is the whole equation. There are probably only a few actual dual-core supported games these days, and I bet I don't even own any of them. I would be interested to know if Sims 2, Half Life 2, the new Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Solid 2, and Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (and the new one coming up) if any of those are dual-core?

Not sure what to do here, and in fact, this whole upgrading thing has been a huge headacke since I haven't really done upgrading these recent years - besides the videocard and ram. Alot has changed, and it just isn't as easy as it used to be. there's so much new terminology and compatibility issues these days when it comes to upgrading. That's also why I want to upgrade AS LEAST OFTEN AS POSSIBLE. I don't wanna go through this again for a while! So I want a CPU thats really gonna be powerful and compatible, and last me a while.

What are your suggestions? By the way, I'm going the AMD route this time. Intel has me quite confused and I heard AMD is awesome for games. I just want to know if a dual-core is even worth the risk and benefits? Wouldn't a really powerful single core be the best choice in my case?

Any thoughts and suggestions would be much appreciated. Oh and, sorry for the long post. But thank you for reading.

[Strobe]

Im gonna be quick. Dual cores can be good at specific tasks. such as encoding operations. but ive seen stuff go wrong with dual cores, such as
games running too fast. (twice the speed) due to timing problems.

I would go for a dual core. but im not much of a gamer.
the Videocard is a much more critical choice for a gaming system.
(and lots of RAM) 1GB minimum for a good performance OS.

Ofcourse there are mostly older games that has compability issues.
and you wont get any performance boost from a dualcore if the game
isnt specifically coded for dual useage.

[TheDyingInformant]

Hmmm......

Yeah that's what I thought. I don't want any mess, complications and incompatibilities so I think I'm gonna stay with a single core - but a really really fast one.

Thanks for the help.

I have another couple questions, but best to not make a new topic right?

What do I look for in a motherboard and how do I search for one? How do I know what I should look out for?

Also I wish to know.... What's the deal with DELL? I keep hearing from random people to avoid Dell computers but I never really got a straight answer as to why - except in the case of Notebooks, I heard something about their batteries exploding. But for a desktop computer, what is the harm in going with Dell? Does anyone know if there would be any benefits or drawbacks to buying from them?

[lionheartuk]

Also I wish to know.... What's the deal with DELL? I keep hearing from random people to avoid Dell computers but I never really got a straight answer as to why - except in the case of Notebooks, I heard something about their batteries exploding. But for a desktop computer, what is the harm in going with Dell? Does anyone know if there would be any benefits or drawbacks to buying from them?

Dell Laptops have had an Exploding Battery yes.
Desktop PC dont have a bettery so they are perfectly safe, well as far as wel all know they are as likely to explode as any normal PC.

The DELL name has been tarnished since the laptop incident, then again it may have just been the pressure THAT EXACT laptop was under,like the guy blocked all the airholes and it overheated, I gues we never know, But eitherway DELL took back a few lines just in case the problem was cause by a design fault and NOT a user fault

Dell for:
Dell are Cheap and efficiant.
Specs are always good.
There BLACK i mean COME ON balck PC looks so damed cool.
A complete package not in Pieces

Against:
- If it busts only THEY can repair it, either THEY come and fix it or YOU go back to them.
- "Dell Pc's arnt avaliable in stores so phone up or buy online"( Yes thats a stupid Quote from the advert)
Laptops MAY still explode Im not sure.