Best processor?

I am purchasing a new pc and I was wondering which cpu is best. I will be using it for games such as GTA 4 and also I will use it for apps like photoshop and video software.

intel Core 2 Duo E7500 2.93GHz
intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00GHz
intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz
intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz
intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.50GHz
intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 2.66GHz

Best for gaming = Core2s.

The Q8x00 aren't very good from what I've read.

The E8400 and E8500 are your best options - great for gaming, and pretty good for editing software.

The E8400 is the same as the E8500 but with a slightly lower clock speed due to it's lower multiplier. If you're going to overclock it and are on a budget then I would go with the E8400 to put money elsewhere like in aftermarket cooling for better overclocking. If you're going to buy it from somewhere then go ahead and get the E8500. The Q8000 series are rather low speck quad cores and are outpaced by the E8000 series as far as gaming is concerned.

My suggestion is Q6700. The best thing about this processor is FSB 1066 so by overclocking it a bit, it will be much better comparing to what you asked for.

Q6x00 series are better than Q8x00, with larger cache and overclockability.

Opt for Intel Q9550 or AMD PhenomII 940 or 955.

+1 for Phenom II. Look into the Ph2 X3 720 - it's better than the e8X00 series in gaming, and cheeper.

I, personally, would go Phenom II 940, its $4 more than the Q8400 and beats it in most of the benchmarks. Check out this article that compares the 940 to the Q8400.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipse [...] spx?i=3559

The Q9550 would be better than all of those, but you have limited upgrading options later on, as socket LGA 775 isnt going to be having any major cpu's released for it anymore.

edit: if your going to get the Q9550 you might want to consider going i7 920. Its better than the Q9550 and its around the same price, but you would just have to work in DDR3 memory and a LGA 1366 mobo, which might be a bit more expensive.