i see.
Well i've been asking around lately. I got similar suggestions regarding AMD.. but the only practical AMD processor (price+performance) are the AMD 2500+ and AMD 2600+ Processors.. the rest are too expensive yet not quite powerful.. but the AMD 2500 and 2600 are really arent that fast.. Low FSB and kicing about 1.8GHZ only.. also, i just read this bench mark:
http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?id=845&cid=2&pg=26
(the final word)
and on one of its pages:
http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?id=845&cid=2&pg=24
We summed up selected results from these benchmarks and they were then normalized to the slowest processor in this showdown, which happens to be Intel's Pentium 4 2.4C (2.4GHz is perceived by most to be slower than a 2500+).
and also:
There's really not much we can say now but we have to really give the performance crown to Intel. In fact, it was quite a shame that the Pentium 4 2.4C made it past the Athlon XP 3200+.
hmm....
tea