CPU Problems

[Mythic_Commodore]

Hi all. I am building a PC in the hopes of being able to run Medieval 2 with out much, if any, lag (within reason). My currently lined up specs are as follows:
GeForce 9500 GT
430W Power Supply
2GB DDR2 RAM at 533MHz
However, I am thinking about the processor. I hear that M2 is not optimized for multiple cores, which would limit my options significantly. Here are my options for a processor. I would like guidance on which best suits my needs:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3.6 GHz (Dual-Core)
Intel Core 2 Duo 3.4 GHz (Also Dual-Core)
Intel 3GHz (Single-Core)
Money is a limiting factor here. $200 is my absolute limit, although I'd prefer spending less than $150. Thanks in advance for any replies!
Mythic

[D.B. Cooper]

Hi all. I am building a PC in the hopes of being able to run Medieval 2 with out much, if any, lag (within reason). My currently lined up specs are as follows:
GeForce 9500 GT
430W Power Supply
2GB DDR2 RAM at 533MHz
However, I am thinking about the processor. I hear that M2 is not optimized for multiple cores, which would limit my options significantly. Here are my options for a processor. I would like guidance on which best suits my needs:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3.6 GHz (Dual-Core)
Intel Core 2 Duo 3.4 GHz (Also Dual-Core)
Intel 3GHz (Single-Core)
Money is a limiting factor here. $200 is my absolute limit, although I'd prefer spending less than $150. Thanks in advance for any replies!
Mythic

I'd get the Athlon, and some more RAM perhaps. Any of those CPUs will run Med2 really well anyway. But you'll want your computer to be good for the next few years, so buy the Athlon.

[Mythic_Commodore]

Thanks for the quick reply! I was leaning towards the AMD, if only because of price.

[Yojimbo]

Hi all. I am building a PC in the hopes of being able to run Medieval 2 with out much, if any, lag (within reason). My currently lined up specs are as follows:
GeForce 9500 GT
430W Power Supply
2GB DDR2 RAM at 533MHz
However, I am thinking about the processor. I hear that M2 is not optimized for multiple cores, which would limit my options significantly. Here are my options for a processor. I would like guidance on which best suits my needs:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3.6 GHz (Dual-Core)
Intel Core 2 Duo 3.4 GHz (Also Dual-Core)
Intel 3GHz (Single-Core)
Money is a limiting factor here. $200 is my absolute limit, although I'd prefer spending less than $150. Thanks in advance for any replies!
Mythic

id get a better power supply like a 550 watt at least and maybe 4gb of ram rather than 2gb.

[Mythic_Commodore]

Thanks for the recommendations. Unfortunately, the motherboard can only support 2 gigs, and I can't get a better motherboard, so I'm going with 800MHz DDR2 memory. Will that help? Also, with the better power supply, will it merely decrease the power of the components or might it be actually dangerous? The only reason I ask because I am doing this on a rather tight budget. Thanks again for the help.

[Yojimbo]

Thanks for the recommendations. Unfortunately, the motherboard can only support 2 gigs, and I can't get a better motherboard, so I'm going with 800MHz DDR2 memory. Will that help? Also, with the better power supply, will it merely decrease the power of the components or might it be actually dangerous? The only reason I ask because I am doing this on a rather tight budget. Thanks again for the help.

a powersupply that is too weak will cause crashing, reboots weird behaviour and might even damage your parts its something you really don't want to skimp on. id sacrifice soemthing else if you cant afford a 500w psu as it would just make the rest of your system very unstable and defeat the purpose of your upgrade.

[Mythic_Commodore]

OK, thanks.

[Wheelchair]

I would get a better Power Supply... maybe even a 620W to futureproof your machine.

EDIT: An insufficient PSU might not even let you start up your PC, lol.

-Wheelchair

[Mythic_Commodore]

That could be bad lol....