Alright guys, heres the truth: Both Intel and AMD are basically the same in performance. Anyone that says AMD performance is better in games "by far" is a fanboy. The difference is negligible, maybe 3-4% at the most. If you're an overclocker, then obviously the cool-running Northwood Pentium 4 will have an advantage with overclocking when compared to an overclocked AMD, and post-overclocking will probably outperform the AMD. 64-bit is simply a marketing ploy by AMD. There is no real imperative for software coders to write in 64-bit. and there won't be in the near future. The 2 GB memory limit hasnt even come CLOSE to being reached. Even after the 64-bit version of Windows comes out, few programmers will have any reason to code in 64-bit. 32-bit software will work perfrectly fine for at least the next 10 years, although I expect a mainstream transition into 64-bit when Intel releases a 64-bit processor, which will probably happen in the next 4 years. If you get a Pentium 4 computer now, it will last you at least 4-5 years. Even when 64-bit Windows is introduced, the vast majority of software and games will be in 32-bit for a long time. Therefore, I think that Intel has an edge over AMD at the current time. Although the new Prescott runs hot, tests and reviews I have seen show that it overclocks even farther than the Northwood!