I am not saying that Pentium IVs are bad, only that they are NOT WORTH THE PRICE DIFFERENCE. It is like buying a SCSI HDD and choosing to pay 50% more just for the fun. The slight increase of performance comes from the dual FSB memory, nothing else. Plug normal memory and see what happens.
Problem? That 800 Mhz memory system is really, really expensive. So you pay more for a Pentium IV, which without that memory system is not better, so you have to pay even more for 800 Mhz FSB memory, and pay even more for a capable mobo. And do you get a great performance improvement? No. So better buy an AMD Atholn XP with cheaper 400 Mhz memory and a cheaper mobo and you are set. What are you losing? Nothing. Plug a Radeon 9600 and 512 Mb of memory and if you can tell the difference I will pay you a buck.
Quote:Infact my experience suggests Intel CPUs are better.
Your experience? You had a Pentium III and now a Pentium IV HT. How did you compare with AMD Athlons?
I base my assertions on my knowledge of computer architecture. Do you know the difference between a task, a process and a thread? HT advertising has relied on the fact that people don't know the difference.
Your HT processor runs better Linux 'cause the latest core is optimized for it. The filesystem module for example is highly threaded, as well as the memory system. That means that the same core runs better with HT 'cause it is optimized for it, nothing else. In fact, the microkernel switching from a module or another does not (can not) take advantage of HT, so HT will fail in the very moment that the OS has to do a page change with your HDD.
The problem is that this guy is gonna install Windows 2000 or XP which performs worse with HT activated. As I said before, XP is optimized for Athlons and Pentium IIIs. Then Penitum IV core has changed dramatically, and remote calls take way longer.
And everything says that Longhorn applications will be optimized for 64 bits computers. That only leaves Windows 2003 server which is too expensive even to try (mainly 'cause it IS NOT an OS for desktops, but for servers).
Anyhow, buy what you buy, think on the rest, as many have said. Example: Tomb Raider 6 needs one of the following:
1.- A 600 Mhz machine with a T/L video card (Geforce 2/3/4/FX or ATI Radeons except 7000).
2.- A 1,7+ Ghz machine without a T/L video card.
Look the difference: the video card is really important if you plan to run games or video.