Frank asks, "I don't have the money to spend on a $200 processor, so I was wondering: is it possible to buy a cheaper processor - like the AMD Athlon II X2 250 Dual-Core Processor - and still play modern games on it?"

While I would recommend buying a higher-end processor like the Phenom II series, a low-end processor will work fine for almost every game on the market. In fact, the performance of your gaming computer relies very heavily on the graphics card - more than the processor.

If you do end up buying the AMD Athlon II X2 250, chances are you're not going to notice much difference between it and the higher cost Phenom II processor - until you start multi-tasking while playing your games. Generally, the more cores and on-die memory you have, the better performance you'll get out of your system. Even with only two cores and 2 MB of a cache, the 250 will perform admirably playing a game and letting you use other applications (like chat, e-mail and web browsing).

The only real difference you'll notice is in video and audio rendering times (if you're into that kind of thing). If you rip DVDs or CDs, you'll notice that the Athlon II takes much longer to process that information than the Phenom II does; but, like everything in like, your mileage may vary.

If you're looking for a multi-core processor on the cheap, the Athlon II X2 250 can't come highly recommended enough - especially if you're waiting for the PHenom II's to come down in price.

Do you have a question? E-mail me: lordkat@gmail.com

Be safe,
Jason