Processor Advice Please!

[supershammy]

Hey, I am interested in making a quick and dirty upgrade to my low-end desktop my parents gave me when I moved out. It's got a 939 mobo so I need to stay within that dying format, but fortunately for me this means pretty damn cheap AMD processors! I am deciding between whether or not I want to get a blistering single-core or a quality dual-core. I use graphics programs often, but they run fine on my current setup - what I won't admit to myself is that I want this thing for games. Counter-Strike and Battlefield 2 are my games of choice at the moment.

Here are the processors I am deciding between:

Single Core
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Venice 2.4GHz 512KB L2 Cache - $56.99
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego 2.4 GHz 1MB L2 Cache - $61.99
AMD Opteron 144 Venus 1.8GHz 1MB L2 Cache - $84.99

And the dual core I have my eyes on...
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Toledo 2.0GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache - $83.99

I'm on a budget and I won't go any higher than these guys, but my main dilemma is whether or not the lower-priced models are that much WORSE than the higher-priced processors. I've read there's hardly a discernable difference between a 3600+ I didn't list here and the 3800+, so that's kind of what I'm talking about.

Also, I'm aware dual core makes multitasking painless, but would it play games up there with the single cores that are technically faster than it?

My current processor is an Athlon 1.7GHz, so these are all big jumps in quality for me.

Let me know what you guys think, thanks!

 

[Vinny]

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=486&model2=471&chart=188

Use that link to compare and contrast the 4000+ and the X2 3800+. They don't have the Opertons on there but you'll get a good idea of those two processors compare.

I'd go with dual core if you plan to have this computer for a few years since single core processors have been phased out. Plus, more software is going to start taking advantage of multiple cores in the future.

 

[mkg12]

I would say go with the dual core. How much RAM do you have though? That may be a big bottleneck.

 

[supershammy]

I only have 512 at the moment, as I didn't notice a real difference when I loaded it up with a whole gig. I'll be upgrading that next though.

Also, I've heard some motherboards aren't compatable with dual core, or that some need adjustments to support dual core lest they run a single core on the processor. Does anyone know if this is true and how much of a bitch it can be? I don't want to go about reinstalling Windows if I can help it...

Thanks so far!

EDIT: And thanks for that link, Vinny! Looks like the X2 is up there with the big boys, even above the 4000+! Now, to determine if my mobo supports dual core...