i don't know a lot bout AMD, what i know is intel have a pen 4, that is their top processor (went from 1 to 2 to 3 now 4), what does AMD have? i don't know all those numbers behind the AMD processors like: AMD Athlon™ 64 3200+ Processor , i know athlon 64 is good but what bout the 3200? what does that mean?
the number afterwards refer to how its compared to intels. A 3200+ will run as good or better than a Pentium 4 3.2ghz. A 3500+ will run as good or better than a Pentium 4 3.5ghz etc. Amd Fx 53 and 55 are better than any other processor on the market.
Yeah, soari got it spot on, all those numbers are referred to as the "PR" or pentium rating, tis nice n straightfoward like that on the athlon64's but it's a bit different if ya want an athlonXP as they base them by fsb and PR, but 64 is the way to go by far.
Athlon 64 FX-55 Socket 939 Is the only way to go. AMD Announced that it's dual-core processors will be compatable with most socket 939 Motherboards, just requiring a new bios. Basically, the dual-core processor is like taking two processors and slamming them together in the same case. That is crazy.