dual core vs single core- is it big performance jump in games?

See it for yourself:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=501&model2=479&chart=166

Speaking of game performance, I would say it also depends on what games you play, some games utilize multi core while the others don't but most of the time you will see a better performance with dual core in games overall. Multicore CPU is at its best performance when going to multitask things, but you will see games that will take advantage of multicore CPU soon such as Crysis, BioShock, Alan Wake......

does oblivion utilize it

because im gonna get a new psu and grapchics card after i get my processor and i want it to run silky smooth 

i would have to upgrade my mobo to get a core 2 duo

my only choice is amd x2

but i wish theyd get the 4800 back in stock because that one has a 2 mb cache and is way better than the 4200 

Cache doesn't really matter for gaming.

sounds complicated

is there a website with all that kind of technical .ini info and what i am supposed to type? 

L2 Cache does have an effect, but not drastic. An 2 MB E6400 overclocked to 2.4 GHz will perform similar to an E6600 with 4 MB. In fact, the lower amount of L2 Cache actually means the E6400 overclocks better than the E6600, since the smaller L2 Cache means smaller die size and less heat produced. It means you have to look for oblivion.ini file in your My Documents folder and fire up notepad to type in some settings that would make it use the second core.madrocketeer

Some of us have had a debate about the cache's impact on overclocking and about the added heat. While the heat part is true, it doesn't have much of an impact.
But you are wrong about the E6400, those are not true Allendales, they just have 2mb enabled and the other 2mb disabled. 

Dualcore only get aobut a 20% max gain in apps/games that are optimized for it.
Quadcores on the other hand, should see a much larger gain, that scales with the extra cores.LordEC911

right now there are no games that utilize dual core at the moment (that i know of).  I noticed when playing css that a dual core was smoother with the framerates and could handle more CPU players or (BOTS).

[QUOTE="LordEC911"]Dualcore only get aobut a 20% max gain in apps/games that are optimized for it.

Quadcores on the other hand, should see a much larger gain, that scales with the extra cores._SKatEDiRt_

right now there are no games that utilize dual core at the moment (that i know of). I noticed when playing css that a dual core was smoother with the framerates and could handle more CPU players or (BOTS).

Dualcores are technically a bit better then single core, because you can run the game off an entire core and run the other background tasks on the other.

There are some dualcore games out there; Quake4 is, Stalker is a little, so is Oblivion, Supreme Commander is multithreaded,

A handful of current games are optimized for Dual Core like Oblivion/SupCom/COH. I recommend getting the dual core, you will get smoother framerates and better performance overall on your computer. But try to get a C2D, they are awesome.batistafan99

Couldn't have said it better myself. 

The core 2s beat athlon 64 x2s. This makes sense, becuase athlon 64 x2 is a last gen chip. The core 2 is next gen. AMDs next gen will be the K8L core. The first K8L will be a quad core barcelona.imrlybord7

K10, TheInq just made up the K8L designation... 

wats the k8L gonna cost, like 800 bucks? rediculous

im willing to shell 100-150 for a processor and spend the big bucks on a graphics card, which is the real powerhorse of the setup

but you guys can go spend your savings away 

[QUOTE="_SKatEDiRt_"][QUOTE="LordEC911"]Dualcore only get aobut a 20% max gain in apps/games that are optimized for it.

Quadcores on the other hand, should see a much larger gain, that scales with the extra cores.LordEC911

right now there are no games that utilize dual core at the moment (that i know of). I noticed when playing css that a dual core was smoother with the framerates and could handle more CPU players or (BOTS).

Dualcores are technically a bit better then single core, because you can run the game off an entire core and run the other background tasks on the other.

There are some dualcore games out there; Quake4 is, Stalker is a little, so is Oblivion, Supreme Commander is multithreaded,

How can I make one core control one applications and the other core control the apps. I want it to? 

wats the k8L gonna cost, like 800 bucks? rediculous

im willing to shell 100-150 for a processor and spend the big bucks on a graphics card, which is the real powerhorse of the setup

but you guys can go spend your savings away

tigerballer

Well, go for the AMD X2 5200+ or a AMD X2 4800+ windsor, they're both good for a lot less than intel.

[QUOTE="tigerballer"]

wats the k8L gonna cost, like 800 bucks? rediculous

im willing to shell 100-150 for a processor and spend the big bucks on a graphics card, which is the real powerhorse of the setup

but you guys can go spend your savings away

Flame_Co

Well, go for the AMD X2 5200+ or a AMD X2 4800+ windsor, they're both good for a lot less than intel.

ive got socket 939

so i was gonna get the 4200, which is there best processor still available