Invisipixel :
I'm about to build my first computer and I'm trying to learn all the fancy words that the experts understand. From my limited knowledge though it seems as though a higher number of cores and a higher clock speed are the two most important factors when choosing a processor. So why doesn't everyone go to AMD with their higher speeds, higher number of cores, and lower prices? Thanks.
Yeah you definitely need to research and look into benchmarks. In the past, clock speeds were "everything" today, not so much. The thing you also need to remember with cores, is that if the software isn't taking advantage of multiple cores, the extra ones are doing anything for you.
I would suggest you start by comparing some CPUs here:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html
It's worth noting the CPU at the top of that chart is only running at 2.30 GHz, to show you how little clock speed matters in regards to overall performance. It matters, just don't assume because one chip is 5.0 Ghz, and the other is 3.5 GHz, that the 5 is automatically better.