Phaelax, comparing that Prescott to its Athlon64 competitor would be a valid comparison to make about relative thermal efficiency. Comparing it to a dual processor system, where the processors are based on a different core to the Prescott's competitor, is not really a valid comparison to make.

Technically if I have my say, I'd choose AMD, although my uncommon a** always chooses the dumb ones. Pentium has their good ones, but I have yet to see the performance of the P4 3.6GHz Extreme Edition.

One more thing, I was at Staples a month back and was testing the computers, I looked at one that had a P4 3.2GHz processor to a AMD 3300+ processor, and believe it or not, I opened Windows Media Player on both, and I timed it to take AMD 4 seconds to open, while the P4 took around 10-15 seconds.

Basically -- My Choice is CLEAR!

System startup time is not a good basis for comparison. there are far too many variables at play in the process to conclude that the difference is related to the processor. Most slow startups are due to the networking components configuration

I fail to see how someone that has identical software systems with two different processsors could tell the difference. Assuming that speed is comparable, of course.

I have to agree with meksikatsi. If all things are equal in two different computers except the comparable processors, memory is comparable in amount and speed, HDs are comparable in speed, etc., etc., it would be impossible for a human being to measure any difference whatsoever.

The rest is just based on conjecture and is opinion and you all know the axiom about opinion...:mrgreen:

If you want to know which is better, in the UK buy and read pc adviser
They show the best 10 pcs each month in three categories.
Power PCs Budget PCs and Superbudget PCs. They use a benchmark tool called worldbench 5. in the Power PC section The Amds regularly score 100+ while intel regularly score 90. the only time an Intel has scored 100 was because it was a 3.6 GHz overclocked to 4.1 GHz. Since my first Amd duron processor pc, I’ve never considered an Intel. My brother prefers Intel but his pc regularly freezes and his games just don’t seem right. Even with his £250 NVIDIA card I find amds to be more stable and better value for what you get. Also Intel are in trouble in Japan for unfair trading against Amd by offering manufactures rebates if they keep there pcs running amds down to 10% of all produced. Buying Intel is just buying a name.

AMD is better. It beats Intel in benchmarks.

p4 is the best and the best p4 Ht extrem edition:1066MHz system bus provides up to 25 percent improved , 1MB to each core u can run nmultiple applications, such as editing video while downloading music.
of do a virus check in the back ground and dont forget 64 bit. it time to show AMD to the door , sure the p4 extrem is expencive but were is AMD's 2 core processer

errmmm.....

AMD64 outperforms P4EE in most tasks, and Athlon FX outeperforms it it most of the remainder of tasks.

AMD64X2 processors have now gone retail, and outperform the dual core Pentium processors by a considerable margin. There is currently no market niche for which Intel has a better performing processor available than AMD.

No questions asked. AMD rules (Is that a cliche'd statement or what?)

As mentioned here, the P4s are extremely overpriced. Case in point. I can get a P4 3.04 GHz with an intel original mobo for Rs 8900 (I stay in India, hence the Rupees. Current exchange rate is Rs 45 to the dollar). However, for Rs 8500, I can getthe AMD 64 2800+ with an MSI K8MM mobo. I call that a steal. I also assembled an AMD 64 2800+ based machine with the following specs for approx $650 (Rs 29200)

AMD Athlon 64 2800+
MSI Via K8MM Chipset based mobo with AGP 8X, 3 PCI, onboard graphics, sound, LAN, 2 SATA ports, VIA RAID built in and 4 USB
Samsung Flatron 17" Monitor
XFX GeForce FX 5200 GFX Card with 128 MB RAM
512 MB System RAM
Pixelview Internal TV Tuner Card with FM
Microsoft Keyboard+Microsoft Optical Mouse (bought as a Keyboard + Mouse Kit)
ATX Cabinet with 350 W Power Supply and 2 extra cooling fans
Internal Intex V92 56 KBPS Modem
Intex 2000W 2.1 Speakers with subwoofer
Sony Internal DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive (52x/32x/52x/16x)
Sony FDD
80 GB Seagate SATA Hard Disk

Oh and the system is black color.

I say AMD gives you the best performance (benchmarks prove it time and again) and the best value for money. Go the AMD way.