Your CPU speed/renderine time chart is incorrect. An Athlon 2800+ is not a 2.8Ghz CPU, it is 2.08Ghz. Same goes for all the other Athlon xxxx CPUs in the chart. The fastest Athlon on the market right now is the 2.2Ghz AthlonXP 3200. So when you bump the dot back to the speed range it is supposed to be in you will see it basically takes a 2.8-3Ghz P4 to equal or slightly better a 2.08Ghz AthlonXP. Another correction, in regards to layingbacks analysis, the number rating on the Athlons are not how they relate to the P4. They are how they relate to the old model of Athlons. Basically, an older Athlon would have to run at 3.2Ghz to equal the performance of the 2.2Ghz Athlon XP 3200+. Its confusing, but it gets worse. The new Athlon64 coming out this month will be running at 1.8Ghz, but will be called the Athlon64 3200. It is 400Mhz slower than the current Athlon 3200+, but the better performer of the two. This isnt the first time they did that however. The AthlonXP 2800+ is a 2.083GHz processor, but the Athlon 2700 is a 2.17Ghz processor! As far as value goes, the AthlonXP 2800+ costs about the same as the P4 2.4Ghz, and is the better performer (in many other applications as well).