Another thing people should be considering are Microsoft's future plans; if they ever get the Longhorn OS out the barn door, that little 'gem' will =require= hardware acceleration for the desktop itself. What that will do with available acceleration for other apps, and resources, is unknown. I like shiny and new as well....but not at the expense of functionality. Hence my current Athlon 64 3000 and my 'old' GF4-TI4400....which there still isn't a game out there capable of bringing it to its knees (maybe Doom 3 or Half Life 2, but I'm betting not....).