single core, dual core and quad core can be hard to get your head around. Single core is pretty much extinct, and personally I believe so is clock speed (to a certain extent - e.g. AMD processors are clocked lower, but have HT links that make them just as fast). Dual cores are the main processor atm and can practically handle twice as much as a single core (so a AMD Athlon 64 4000+ compared to the same model X2 will handle half as much), this doesn't alway apply - as some apps aren't multithreaded, but windows drivers do help to make sure there is a performance boost. Quad core is the same principle, just can handle four times more than a single core, but again, applications aren't using the full potential of quad-core YET, and dual core does beat quad core on some benches, but that will change --- although my Phenom Quad Core is ranked number two in AMD systems on Overclockers atm, sitting behind a higher overclocked phenom.

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Living life to the fullest it can possibly be!
AMD Phenom Quad-Core 9500, OCZ 4GB PC2 -6400 RAM, GeForce 8800 GTX Ultra 768MB, 150GB Raptor. 500GB WD HD

I just talked to my friend (who's into building computers) and I showed him the bundle.

He said buying the processor separately would be like 150 bucks less. Not to mention he said to overclock that to 3.0Ghz I'd need a fan other than the stock one.

He said he wouldn't do it, he said that's for people that are intent on getting every maximum drop possible out of their motherboard - people who spend 20 minutes each day booting to float around in the BIOS tuning settings.

Any truth to this?

He said I could throw a decent computer together that could play crysis (not that I'm interested in playing that, but that seems to be the standard now-a-days for "good graphics") on half way to max settings while still being very stable for ~1200 bucks.

Any advice?

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In case the above doesn't make any sense, note that I don't know anything about computers.

"Horsepower sells motor cars, but torque wins motor races"
- Carroll Shelby

overclocking can be a hobbie, or just a one off thing - each chip is different, but I've heard many people talking about the Q6600, it's an easy 3.0Ghz chip, and once the settings are saved, you never need to touch then, for 3.0Ghz I would say you needed more than your stock cooler, up'ing the voltage a notch and raising the FSB won't make much difference in temps, anything above that then an after market cooler would be needed (e.g. Zalman 9700). It's not just about performance IMO, it's about more bang 4 ya buck. Check out overclocker.net for more info on overclocking

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Living life to the fullest it can possibly be!
AMD Phenom Quad-Core 9500, OCZ 4GB PC2 -6400 RAM, GeForce 8800 GTX Ultra 768MB, 150GB Raptor. 500GB WD HD

I'm not really into overclocking - I'm just into stability while being quick.

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In case the above doesn't make any sense, note that I don't know anything about computers.

"Horsepower sells motor cars, but torque wins motor races"
- Carroll Shelby

I realise that, but as I say, it won't really need to be OC'd that much, just once, and it = better cpu

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Living life to the fullest it can possibly be!
AMD Phenom Quad-Core 9500, OCZ 4GB PC2 -6400 RAM, GeForce 8800 GTX Ultra 768MB, 150GB Raptor. 500GB WD HD

Id get the Intel Quad over the AMD one right now , but if you want to wait for the phenomFX in January .... or even the penryn .... which will be the most powerful processor on the market
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This user added the following:
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Changing the FSB wont change temps much ... but even slight voltage increase can send temps up 5degrees (even if its less than .25V Increase

Yeah, but i don't need nor can afford "the best processor on the market." I guess the current industry standard is an FPS called "Crysis." So I guess I'm looking to run Crysis on medium (3/4, as 4/4 requires Vista with DX10) while not running very hot, and still remaining stable.

I also want to go with DDR3 so it's upgradeable in the future, and I need all the other crap too, such a new power supply, case, hard drives, etc.

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In case the above doesn't make any sense, note that I don't know anything about computers.

"Horsepower sells motor cars, but torque wins motor races"
- Carroll Shelby