Posted 29 May 2009 - 12:30 AM
Sneakycyber explained the differences well but here is some added information. The Core 2's are newer and come in dual and quad core varieties. These are being replaced by the i7 and the soon-to-be-released i5 CPU's. Most users wanting performance will go for newer CPU's, such as the Core 2's, i7's, and AMD's CPU, the Phenom II's. The Pentium's are the lower end cousins and are typically avoided by gamers. The Celeron's are designed for notebook or low-cost PC's. Atom CPU's are meant for netbooks or discount PC's where the amount of power needed to run the CPU is a major factor. Intel's rival AMD produces chips similar to theirs at a lower cost, but they are often not quite as advanced. Gamers or people building sub $1000 or $1500 generally choose the AMD CPU's. Currently AMD's Phenom II X4 line of CPUs is aimed at Intel's Core 2 CPU's.