Question about AMD

[xxdryicexx]

go with a 64 bit I guess.. I personally do not see any point of doing that since no applications/games, etc.. even recognize the 32 bit increase address rate.. according to a few poeple I've spoken to, 64 bit processors will only begin to take advantage of the increase in speeds is another year or so.. so you will be sitting around with all this technology that you cannot even take advantage of..

But, by all means, if you can get a 64 bit cpu that is as fast as a... say.. 2.8ghz cpu (if not faster), then by ALL means go for it, because when the time comes, it will be 2x faster when applications begin to recognize the 64bit techonology in the future..

and by the way, if you didnt know.. everything on a cpu/mobo, etc.. is 64bit (well almost everything) the only thing that isnt is the address speeds, which is 32 bit.. so dont be fooled by poeple trying to sell you 64 bit proccesors with "EVERYTHING" being 64 bit, and trying to skim some money.. i've had people try that on me already..

and also, the 9600 XT is a great card, especially if it can be fully supported on a 8x agp Mobo, but if you are getting top of the line stuff, you might aswell get a x800 pro, if not that, atleast a 9800 pro.. and make sure the manufacturer is radeon themselves, they make a good enough stock-built fan/heatsink on the card, unlike nvidia ( bad experiences )

 

[xxdryicexx]

never owned a prescott, but heard many bad reviews about the overheating problem on it, even with its 3.0+ ghz models.. same thing with the "E" series p4's.

I would definitly recommend northwood (if your going for a p4). with the stock fan/heatsink its idle temp is very nice.. I purchased a 2.8C ghz northwood HT cpu.. and using stock everything (fan/heatsink silver) and its idle (well playing mp3 and typing this, lol) temp is at 38c right now.. onload temp is at around 45-48 (depending if I have the A.C. in my room on, lol), no OC'ing what soever.

 

[The Merlin]

Prescott runs hot and requires a good sized heatsink/fan combo, but its lack of performance is the main worrying issue

Intel wouldn't send them with a stock heatsink/fan if they knew that the CPU would still overheat, so unless you OC it should be fine It will just be slower then the AMD64's