Quote - If you want a fast machine, go for an Athlon64x2 CPU. The slowest Athlon64 dual core is just a tad slower than the fastest Intel dual core at this time. But they're quite expensive.

The very first computer I ever bought had an AMD processor, and it gave me nothing but trouble.  I had bought the computer locally from a well known and established  computer outlet in my city.  I knew absolutely nothing about computers except that "Pentium" was the way to go!  Big mistake to go and buy something when you know less than nothing about what you are buying.

I had to trust in the sales guy. He asked me many questions about what I planned on using my computer for and I answered them. He asked about "gaming", and I said  "No, but I'd like the option of being able to."  I also said that I know computers become "obsolete" very quickly and that I wanted something that wasn't going to be out-of-date for my needs in a few months.  He put together the following package costing $2,000.00  and told me that it was more than what I needed and would last me years and years:

AMD K6 Processor (he said it was the same as a Pentium but was more affordable)
On board sound and graphic card (no idea of the type)
32 MB of SD RAM
8 gig hard drive
17" Monitor
2 speakers
Keyboard
Epson Printer (which I later found out was "new" but was a 3 year old model)
Ace scanner (which I later found out was "new' but was a 3 year old model)

Three weeks after I got it home and set up I was getting fatal exception error messages about lost drivers and registry errors and more. I called them and they told me that it's not a hardware issue and isn't covered under warranty. I don't drive and I was not able to get the computer to them because of a back injury, so they came out to service the machine....charging me $90/hr to do so. Keep in mind this is back in 2000, so that was extremely high labour rates, probably still is...extortion rates.

$300.00 later the guy leaves and tells me the computer is "fixed".  The machine worked fine for that afternoon, but by evening I was getting bright blue screens again. Over the next 5 months they came out to "fix" my computer at least once or twice a month, usually ending up in  a reformat.  I refused to pay them one red cent after paying them that initial $300.00 because I felt they had sold me "crap".  I started doing some research (late I know), and found out that there were tons of problems with AMD K6 processors, and all the problems sounded like what I was having. I tried telling the computer place this, but they kept insisting that the components were excellent.

They refused to send anyone else out to "fix" my computer "free", because they claimed they spent a considerable amount of time on it. I told them that they wouldn't have had to if they hadn't sold me garbage. 

Bad back or not, I lugged the tower to their store along with printed data on the AMD K6 processor problems, and a notebook filled with pages and pages of documented times for the blue screens (it was literally crashing every few minutes by this time), dropped it on their counter and told them "Fix it so that it works, or I'm going to sue you!"

They gutted it and replaced the parts with the same type of parts again and claimed it was "fixed". You guessed it!  Same problems once I got it home.  I called them again!  They had the odacity to tell me that I shouldn't be adding programs to the computer because that's what's causing the problems, and that it works just fine in a fresh reformatted state.  :blink: :blink:  I told them "What's the point of having a computer if you can't install programs you need in order to use it !!!!" This was about 11 months after purchase by this time.

I was so pissed off and fit to be tied by this time, that I took it to another computer company along with a very long and detailed record of what transpired over the previous 11 months. They were totally aghast at what I went through.  By this time I was dating a guy who was a computer programmer and he told me what components I wanted and to not take no for an answer!

It cost me an additional $1700.00 to get the Pentium processor that I originally wanted plus everything else inside replaced, but I never had another problem with my desktop since then, and I'm proud to say that in the 5 years since that "upgrade", I've never experienced a blue screen.

I really should have sued to recover the cost of the upgrade, but by then I was just so sick of dealing with computer problems that I just washed my hands of it and was happy to just have a computer that finally worked, even though it ended up costing me $4,000.00 in total, twice the price of what it should have.

So given my first experience with an "AMD" processor, I'm not so inclined to want to try my luck with another one. Pentium has proven itself reliable and durable.
Thanks for the valuable information on components. I appreciate information like that more than you can know. I never want to find myself in a situation I was in like when I bought my first computer.

"It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to say." - Ghandi