cpu n00b question

[AKIRA]

Ok, i have a series of questions.

1. What's the difference between Intel Core 2 Duo and Intel Pentium D
2. Are Intel Core 2 Duo's the right CPU's for gaming?
3. Why do a lot of Core 2 Duo's have low clock speeds (e.g. 6300 1.86 GHZ)?
4. If I want to get a game like Crysis, what CPU should I be getting?

Thanks in advance :D

[The Brick]

1. the two cpus have an entirely different architecture. They're more efficient with power and do more calculations per hertz.
2. yes
3. because they don't need to run at high speeds to give very good performance. If you want a pentium D to perform just as well as a core 2 duo running at 1ghz, it needs to run 90% faster, so 1.9ghz. AMD cpus need to run about 40% faster.
4. core 2 duo. the model of choice depends on your budget.

[neptuneuk]

1. the two cpus have an entirely different architecture. They're more efficient with power and do more calculations per hertz.
2. yes
3. because they don't need to run at high speeds to give very good performance. If you want a pentium D to perform just as well as a core 2 duo running at 1ghz, it needs to run 90% faster, so 1.9ghz. AMD cpus need to run about 40% faster.
4. core 2 duo. the model of choice depends on your budget.
yes!

[AKIRA]

aw3som3. Thanks :)

[JFry]

And with your insane cooling system you may want to overclock your system if it isn't already.