< ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />I’ll
keep this post brief: You know Processor technology moves extremely fast with variants
like A64, Opteron, A64FX etc. You probably are also aware of different core technologies:

Newcastle
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, Prescott etc. Of course you are aware of difference sockets: 754, 7 etc. Want to
tie all these together? Until now I used to spend hours surfing when doing a PC upgrade.
Again wikipedia has come to the rescue with concise articles containing all the relevant
information in one place, for those interested I suggest starting on the Athlon 64
page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athlon_64

Those who still
build their own desktops will thank me for this tip. My current contract allows us
to use our own hardware and running my (year old) A64 with 2GB and a
10,000 rpm HD is heaven – the productivity gains are enormous when I am in a
real heads down coding effort. Shaving just seconds of alt-tabbing and compile
times to the point where they are almost instant makes an unbelievable difference.