Some Newbie Questions About CPUs

So I've always been relatively proficient with computers compared to the population at large, but I still have a long way to go before I feel comfortable building my own computer. I started reading tech forums, this and one other, around the beginning of the year and finally joined this one because it seemed more welcoming and more populated.

Anyway, I watched this video: http://www.youtube.com/user/newegg#p/u/8/JGxMdwJ1Rjk , Newegg's introduction of the Sandy Bridge, and toward the end they're explaining the naming conventions for the processors. "The 2 stands for 2nd generation (got that part) and the next three numbers are the processor skew." So my specific question is, what does 'processor skew' refer to, and how does it affect processor performance?

More generally, if anyone have any favorite "New To Tech" guides or reviews that they would recommended please feel free to post them.

Long term (over the next couple of months) I would like to build my own computer for multi tasking, some occasional gaming, and hopefully streaming television on 2 27" screens that is reasonably future proof with a budget of ~1400 USD excluding peripherals (monitors, keyboard, mouse, speakers).

Usually the higher the number, the higher the CPU clock rate is. When comparing Sandy Bridge CPUs and your budget, looks like you should go with 2600k.

The K means it is unlocked, so you can overclock if you want to without any complicated procedures. You just simply raise the multiplier for the CPU clock and restart.

Check out this for some comparisons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy [...] Processors

As you can see, as the last 3 digits of the model number increase... so do the features and CPU clock frequency.

The interesting thing to remember is that most processors within the same family are usually built off the same 'die' from the same silicon wafer. They do some amount of testing to 'bin' the better performers to become the faster/higher performing models (SKUs). What you're paying for when you buy the 'better' processor is that the manufacturer 'programmed/set' the processor to operate with a higher multiplier... additional functionality (additional cores... hyperthreading... turbo boost range... etc). When the manufacturing process gets good... nearly *all* the CPUs could perform at the highest rating... so great chips are programmed to be 'average' performers. That's the heart of the overclocking game.