Hey, so just a quick question about Oblivion, and CPUs.
So I've heard from almost everybody, that Oblivion only really uses one core on the CPU. So my question is, which would run faster, a Pentium 4 at like 3.4ghz or a Core i5 at 2.8ghz? I'm thinking the i5 would run it faster, I guess because of the L2/L3 caches or something, but I used to play Oblivion on a Pentium 4 at 3Ghz, and I overclocked it to 3.6ghz, and didn't notice any performance increase.
Also, while on the subject, would a Core i7 (quad) make a significant difference from the core i5 (quad) in Oblivion?

Thanks in advance for all replies.

Just because Oblivion doesn't use multiple cores is no reason at all to get ancient on your hardware, so don't even consider a Pentium model (the first dual cores started coming out about a year before Oblivion shipped). You would probably run the game much better off an I5 multi-core since although Oblivion won't use multiple cores, Windows will, and that will free up processor space for Oblivion.

I also say this because we are now entering the age where single-core CPUs are going to become completely and totally obsolete (if ME2 is any sign, that is). If you get a single core CPU now, you are likely going to find yourself very limited in what you can do on your PC perhaps a year from now.

Short version: Get a dual core at least, single core CPUs are in their twilight years.

The i5 (both dual and quad versions) would destroy that Pentium 4. The Core i7 would not be that much of an improvement over a quad i5 or even a dual-core one in this game. As already mentioned, the game doesn't make use of much more than a single core....it'll use a bit of the second one, but nothing extraordinary.

All current CPU technology work off of a more efficient CPU architecture than what was implemented on the Pentium 4 (Netburst tech). Today's CPUs do more work/cycle so they can keep the frequency low, but still achieve better performance. AMD was actually the first movers of this methodology and it really showed when the first Athlon 64 chips rolled around back in the day destroying everything Pentium. Intel picked it up and ran with it though when the first Core 2 Duo chips came out (Conroe). Frequency of CPUs can only be directly compared if the chips are within the same model and architecture....there is no direct comparison between the P4 and i5, but ANY Core i5 chip would destroy a Pentium 4.