There are many CPUs available in the market, sin¬gle core, dual core and quad core. But these can't work with just about any motherboard out there. The motherboard can have either an LGA socket to accommodate the new range oflntel's processors or an AM2 socket to accommodate most of the new processors from AMD. Generally, the 8k+ range supports multi core processors, but some of them are also optimized to accommodate the latest 45 nm technology based CPUs that consume lesser amount of power and perform better than the other processors available.

Both Intel and AMD provide so much choice in terms of CPUs. Whether you need a single core, a dual core or a Hi-speed quad core processor based on 45nm technology, depends solely on the type of application. However, while purchasing a mother¬board, check what type of processors does it sup¬port. Would it be able to support the upcoming range of Hi-speed CPU s or not? This is specially im¬portant, because with applications becoming more and more performance hungry, you might need a newer processor after six months or an year.