PC processor names and speeds

Have u ever wondered wat abt the tiny thing wich is the reason ur PC performs those innumerable actions. There are so many processors with names ranging from Athlon, Athlon 64 X2 dual-core, Intel Core Duo, Core 2 Duo, Celeron D, and the list goes on and on. Wen u get into the market for a new computer, there are simply too many to count der. You may have the basic understanding of PC components, but do u no abt all the processors available.

Most home users don't have a real reason to care about which processor. How fast is fast? It is when the user gets into the business of needing lots of power that it makes a difference. Having to have the latest and greatest is not the correct thing for everyone. If you are a gamer, faster is better. If you are emailing the kids every morning, it doesn't make much difference. So based on ur needs u do need to understand the wich processor is best for ur comp and why.

But take the other case. If we go off the assumption that we are classifying "home users" as someone that does minimal email, minimal web browsing, minimal everything. The problem is that as the "home user" gets comfortable using a computer (email, web browsing, etc), they will start to explore using other things like YouTube, MySpace, iTunes, video games, digital cameras, etc. So where once their Celeron processor was fine doing what they wanted, now the "home user" is asking the processor to do things that really a Core Duo should be handling.

While a processor doesn't make the entire computer, it is the cornerstone of the computer and defines what else should be put into the computer. One shudn't attempt to put a nVidia 8800 video card and 4 GB of ram with a celeron processor and also not attempt to put 256 MB of Ram and On-board video with a Quad Core processor. But that doesnt mean one shud buy the cheapest processor/computer to fit their's needs. Since most "home users" might increase their computer usage, they want to see that computer they bought that fit their needs 3-6 months ago become obsolete because they are trying to do too much now. So wat needs to be really emphasized is to buy as much (processor) you can afford. Everything else (drives, memory, monitor, peripherals) can easily be upgraded, but you might be stuck with the wrong/old processor if you go on the cheap.