For the techies - Which processor to choose?
 

I am going to put together a new desktop for me. This will be to replace a current AMD Athlon 3000 based system which I built 4 years ago. I use a laptop for business purpose so this desktop will not be used for business but for personal matters. I am not a intensive gamer but I like to run flight simulator and few other 3d games on it from time to time. I am hesitating between 2 barebones with 2 different processors: one with an Intel Pentium D 940 3.2hz or the other one with an AMD Athlon X2 3800+. Any suggestion?
Thanks

Hmm, I need a lot more info, but between those 2, get the AMD. It is a dual core chip and the Intel is not. The Intel will be faster, but not a huge jump from your current PC, especially if you throw more RAM into your current box. What's your budget and do you have links to these barebones systems? You might look into buying all of the parts yourself and putting the whole thing together--it might be a few bucks more but you can choose all of the part, including the mobo.

Barebone 1:
Intel 945GCLL Socket 775 / Intel Pentium D 940 OEM / 1GB DDR2 PC4200 /

Barebone 2: MSI K8M890M2-V Socket 939 / AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ / 1GB DDR PC3200

I would consider 1st one since it's a faster RAM.

The Intel has 4 SATA ports to the MSI's 2. If you don't care about the drive option for the future, the boards are pretty much the same featurewise.

Those are big cases for MicroATX boards.

I was wrong about the Intel chip. It is a first gen dual core chip. I believe it is faster than the AMD. I'd probably go with the Intel.

The case is gonna suck. I got one of these TigerDirect systems a couple of years ago and putting the thing together took a few chunks out of my hands.

Here is a link for a cheap 400gb hard drive. http://shop3.outpost.com/product/5175466

Thanks for the info. I already have a 200g SATA disk on my current desktop that I will reuse but this 400g is a bargain so I may go for it. I am indeed thinking about going for the Intel based barebone.

Well you said you want to play Microsoft Flight Simulator, which has all it's code based upon the processor. I think you should get an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHZ or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ 2.8GHZ.

Both of these are overclockable and they are around $300

the intel pentium D series are dual core. intel pentium D link
edit...oops sorry, you corrected it on your post #5;)