My brain is becoming mush! Question about what CPU to get

I'm finally building a new computer, which was a P4 w/hyperthreading 7800 Geforce blah blah

It's a whole new world now!! There is new types of CPUs and GPUs! Just when I have finished creating my list of what I want, I noticed more gamers seem to have Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017)

I had picked out a Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz: (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115028)

I guess I was just eye-balling the GHZ, and was thinking that should be what's the highest or matters, but now I don't know since more go for the top one. What do I do? Yes... it's a gaming machine we're looking at

If I was a bit more confident in believing that game developers are going to start taking more advantage of quad-cores vs. dual-cores I would say future proof yourself and go with a quad. The newer Q9450's, as Geordi mentions, are the new hot CPU on the market. They are replacing the Q6600's as the CPU of choice for a lot of gamers. However, you can get a Q6600 for quite a bit less right now, and they really are a sweet CPU for the price. Outpost.com had them on sale a week or so ago for $190. Keep your eyes peeled for deals if price is a big concern. Or, wait a bit for the Q9450's to become more available. They are running out of stock on most of the sites right now. It may be a few more weeks before they are readily available. And, the price have been around $300+ from what I have seen so far.

If you were to go dual core then that E6850 you mentioned is your best bet simply due to the high clock on it.

I, personally, went with a quad-core, and had it not been free would have bought a Q6600. However, had I been buying today I would be getting the Q9450.

That's just my Intel side suggestions. I'm not sure if you are interested in AMD or not, but right now they are struggling a bit to keep up with Intel. I'd hold off a bit to see what else they can come up with if you really want AMD.

So you wanted to build a new gaming PC and you wanted this new PC centric around a P4? I've gota ask if no one else will... Where have you been for the last 5 years? lol

Take the advice of the previous posters, they won't send you down the wrong path.

So you wanted to build a new gaming PC and you wanted this new PC centric around a P4? I've gota ask if no one else will... Where have you been for the last 5 years? lol

Take the advice of the previous posters, they won't send you down the wrong path.

tequilasunriser

I think he was saying that his old computer was a P4. He worded it weirdly, but that is what I got out of it.