The CPU is the heart of your machine. Intel's Pentium line has long dominated the leading edge but in recent times AMD's Athlons have begun to edge out the Pentiums in performance. Who will it be, the old-line behemoth or the renegade upstart? Well, for us "value" people, the Athlon wins hands down...if those hands were holding $90. You can get an 800Mhz PIII or move into Gigahertz territory if you slap an Athlon in that box.
Sure, there's the Duron. Processor of the Year honors. Lower price. But "Duron" just doesn't have the ring to it that "Thunderbird" does. A "Thunderbird" is a hot rod from the 50s (ignoring that trend of making it a family car in the 1980s), while a "Duron" is a...ummm...well, it sounds like a dryer.
Half of being a gamer is bragging about your superior machine to the underpowered newbies. The 1GHz Thunderbird will strike fear into their heart and those sidepipes on your case that spit flames every few processor cycles will get you the love of all truly worthwhile women. (Disclaimer: Your computer should at no time shoot fire and, if it does, you've really screwed up).
To get a Pentium IV (Intel's latest chip) at 1.3 Ghz will cost you about $400, where a more competitive Pentium III 1Ghz is About $230. This is why the Intel version of the Value Gaming PC clocks in at a nice, but not exciting, 800Mhz.
A word of warning to those of you doing the mail order thing: Make sure and get an AMD approved heat sink, or your Athlon may melt. This is not value, this is "Oh my god, my computer just melted!"
Or...
The 833 from last time is dead! Long live the 833 from last time!
Intel's Pentium line has a long and glorious history. Long ago, in the mists of time (mid-90s), there was a time when just "A Pentium" was pretty heady stuff. Then the processor races really took off, with speeds doubling at a ridiculous rate. We've been through the Pentium II, Pentium III, and Pentium IV. There's the Celeron, which is related to the Pentium, and beats AMD's Duron on the "Not Sounding Like A Dryer" side of the equation.
AMD's initial efforts in the processor arena were notoriously rank for their not-as-good-as-Intelness, but the Athlon has since forced its way into our hearts by matching power for power and just plain slaying the Pentium on cost. The primary reasons to go with an Intel nowadays are 1. Name alone and 2. Overclocking. Overclocking the Athlon is fairly common, but there's simply more information on overclocking the Pentium series.
Make no mistake about it, the PIII is a mighty chip, more than enough for any current game. However, in terms of pure horsepower-per-buck, the Athlon wins hands down. If you have the extra cash, or just can't go with a non-Intel processor, go for a PIII. You won't be disappointed.
