upgradable to dual-core in future. 64-bit around the corner. Cool and quiet technology on AMD. Pentium 4s run hot and are fast, but not as fast for games, but faster in everything else.
ROger
I have few questions I'd like to discuss before scratching my wallet for those hard-earned pennies.
1. Which series to go for? Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon 64?
2. Which brand is known to design the most reliable motherboards? (Did I hear Intel)?
3. Finally, should I integrate my own PC or buy one from those Big Brothers (IBM, Dell, HP, Gateway etc)
I would also appreciate if someone could please clear a few doubts/myths regarding the follwing:
1. That branded machines ALWAYS outperform custom-built white boxes. True or False?
2. That no matter which components I choose to buy from the open/retail market, they always lag in quality as compared to their identical OEM versions.
My requirements are:
1. I occassionally play games.
2. I do work with some graphic intensive software?
3. I would like to have a really cool & whispering quiet but powerful machine. And by the way, I am not in the mood to upgrade my PC for another two years kepping in view all that BTX, 64-bit OS stuff swirling around now-a-days.

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