Is the performance difference between two identicle system but one with P4 mobo and processor and one with AMDmobo and processor (cheapest one) that great. I saw that the cheapest 'newcastle' model of AMD 64bit is practically the same as a P4 3.0Ghz 800FSB. So is the AMD 64bit performance gain that amazing?

please could someone tell me this,cos it really is confusing me.

You wont find much difference between AMD and Pentium any more. Some people tend to stick with one or the other but generally they do as good a job as each other.

With the 64 bit CPUs you wont be gaining much of an advantage yet as there are little/no operating systems or applications that have been developed for them. I expect 64 bit systems will take off in a big way when the next generation of operating systems are released that utilise the 64 bit CPUs.

thanks, i think i see what you mean.