If you want to check your emails once a week then there really is no need to buy a PC at all, just $2 to your local internet cafe will do the trick, But on the other end of the spectrum if you are going to spend your time playing the latest games and need a machine that is going to keep up to the ever increasing demand from game developers, you are definately going to need to invest in the latest Intel i7 or AMD phenom!

Read on for a quick guide to dual and quad core processors.

Pre Dual Core:

Well you can pick up a 3ghz Pentium 4 for almost nothing nowadays, find an auction on eBay and its all yours, that will still run a PC, check emails, surf the web, all the basics not a problem just don’t expect it to make you a coffee in the morning, in fact don’t expect it to do much without at least 5 to 10 minutes to startup (a Bit like me!)

Dual Core

These are still very decent processors to use and will run nearly any application you can throw at it, even half decent games if you have an upper market one, As I write this these range in price from $20 to $280 on ebay depending on exact specs.

Quad Core

These are top of the line processors and will run any software that is available today, top of the line games and will damn near make a coffee in the morning (but if there is coffee pouring out of the CD-Rom drive, I’m pretty sure you have major problems!).
As I write this, they range in price on Ebay from around $200 to $1400, If you want to future proof your PC for as long as possible, it is highly recommended that you go for one of these bad boys!