How much processor speed do I actually need for decent gaming if I'm getting a Quad Core? I've always been told that 3.3 is the least you'll want for gaming, but is just 3.0 okay?
i5 or anything logan recommends
the frequency of the CPU doesnt really reflect the true "computing performance" of the machine
I think refering to http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_value_available.html
would give you a better understanding about what price to performance you really want to pay for
the CPU score is listed as well as the price
I think the best CPUs for gaming on the market are the 3570k which is what I have, or the AMD FX 6300 there is a huge price differance as well as a good amount of overclocking headroom for both CPUs
The minimum for gaming, judging by what I have seen, is a phenom 2 x4 at stock clock.
my 8120 at stock speeds doesnt bottleneck my 7850 at all
the only reason i have it overclocked is because its so damn fun
Depends on the gaming your doing also. Since I care little about how the game looks I'm using a 1.9ghz A8-4500m thats 35 watts that I use to game at low - medium FX while streaming, but I wouldn't go under 2.7GHz for a minimum quad core for "decent gaming".