OK - I have two computers.  My main one is a Sony Vaio P4 3.4GHz with 2GB memory.  It has a GeForce 6600 video card with 256MB.  It runs Vue OK.

The second computer is a home built system in a really nice case, but only a bare bones system.  It has an AMD Athlon 64 X@ Core Processor 3800+ with 1GB memory.  It has a GeForce 7300 GS video card with 512MB.  With only 1GB, it ended up my daughter's computer after her's went up in smoke a few years ago.  I never tried Vue on this system since it had less memory.

The question is - whice one should I expand?  The Vaio is maxed out on memory slots (I'd have to throw out the old ones), the other computer has 2 open slots and lots of room for any other goodies I may want.  But is the AMD processor better/faster than the P4 for use with Vue?  According to a program called GPU Caps Viewer the Vaio's core speed is 3391MHz and the other computer is only 2000MHz. 

Thanks!
Peggy

Hmmm. Peggy maybe it is 2000 Mhz x 2, since it's a dual core, But I'm not sure these Athlon 64 are true dual cores.
I probably have the same Vaio as you do, but I ditched it. It couldn't handle more than 2gigs of memory, so check that yours can.
And you only really need 3 gigs anyway on a32bit system.
I say reclaim your computer, give your daughter a nice Vaio machine for Msn messenger and YouTube, buy 2 gigs of ram (unless you can steal the one from the Vaio, your daughter won't notice,lol, but I doubt it is the same format), and a more recent video board.

MHz cannot be compared between processor families. The Athlon 64 is much faster than the Pentium 4 at the same clock speed, but the Pentium 4 can run at a much faster clock speed. The new Intel Core 2 processors edge out the Athlons clock for clock. They also reach higher clock speeds.

Do either of your machines support PCI-E graphics cards? That's all you can get these days.

Do the machines have DDR or DDR2 memory? DDR2 (the newer one) is cheap. DDR is expensive since they don't make it any more.

If you can afford it you might consider replacing all of the machine's innards. It might be cheaper in the long run to get a new cheap motherboard, memory, graphics card (but the newer integrated graphics seem to be up to 3D so you might be able to skip that) and processor. The problem with the older machines is that the parts are no longer manufactured.

I just bought a new motherboard to replace the one in an 11 year old machine. It has Intel integrated graphics. If you can wait a bit (I have to temporarily tear apart a working machine to get an old processor so that I can flash the new BIOS that lets me use the new processor!!! I hate dismantling something that is working.) I can tell you if that integrated graphics can run Vue PLE.

Both machines have PCI express video cards.  Not sure on the memory, but I'm pretty sure the newer computer has DDR2 memory.  It's not an option right now to replace the motherboard - money is tight as it is.  If I add a couple of GB to the newer computer, I think I will be ahead of where I am right now. 

Just don't have a warm fuzzy feeling toward the AMD processor.  I wish I had said take it back when My hubby and his "computer expert" friend bought it on sale.  But it was a great deal since it was the last one in stock (mother board, processor, and the 1GB for around $100). 

I suppose the other one is a X2 which would be a dualcore. Dualcores have lesser coreclock at higher efficiency than single cores. your X2 should run run like a 3ghz single core in single core applications.

I don't know what you want to upgrade and how much money you want to spend, but I'd say, get a new board and a nice intel Quadcore. The q6600 should be around 200 dollars to get which is neat. Quadcore speed elevates you to a whole new level of detail and it's just more to play around when you have 3 times faster preview-renders.

If you want topspeed buy new, if you just want a cheap speedboost add 2Gb (sells here for around $20 per 1Gb bar) to the AMD X2. that works fine too, Haven't used an Intel since the Pentium 90, bought a new car and had a couple of nice vacations with the cash saved :)   

I'd also up the memory in the X2 rig. Remember that AMD's numbering scheme isn't about actual clock cycles, but perceived performance. I've run all iterations of Vue from Vue 4 up through V6 Infinite on AMD silicon, and I've had no issues in that regard. And the X2 is a true dual core, unlike Intel's first few versions (right up until the newest version of their 'quadcore', it was actually a dual core x2, with all the latency issues. Their latest and most expensive quad core actually is a quad core, with versions of the tech AMD has had out for more than 2 years, now). If your OS is XP, then you can take the memory up to 3 gigs and not waste money; do a seach on 'large memory aware'. There is a hack to force XP to utilize more than 2 gigs (what it does is force Windows to use a specifically sequestered 1 gig of the memory pool, leaving the other 2 gig free to be addressed by your apps). You might want to see if you can snatch an OEM of XP 64; that would let you add as much memory as your motherboard can support (you would probably want a dual boot with XP, as there is a lot of stuff that is still dependant on a 32 bit OS; the python used in SkinVue being a quick example. If enough of your apps are multi processor aware, then go for the gold.....but remember than this is still pretty rare, and SMP for the masses hasn't really been given any attention; a lot of in use apps can bog down or crash due to not knowing what to do with more than one core...and if the OS isn't smart enough to keep the app isolated to one core....

Thanks everyone for the input!  I will start backing up everything and get ready for a memory upgrade on the X2. 

You can get a faster version of the X2 processor a lot cheaper these days, I am running the X2 6000+, available for under £100 now, but you can get the 5000+ version for next to nothing.

Couple that with extra memory and you will have a faster system in no time.

Jon