Off Topic, AMD 1.4 ghz

[Steven-n-Donna]

Personally, I don't find AMD that bad of a chip on the most part. There key problem area is heat and conflicts with shady mother Boards.
I also wouldn't aim for that 1.4ghz yet either. Little to high and new. Cost justification between a 1.2ghz ($105.00) and a 1.4ghz ($185.00) isn't worth it.
Back in the old days of Cyrix, many companies would cover the label up and place an intel sticker over the chip. Or would just epoxy the heat sink to the processor and the average customer would never know.
Be careful that the company didn't sell you a 1.1ghz chip and figured you'd over clock it to 1.4ghz.
A simple test would be to feel the chip to see how warm it's running, when you get another one. You should be able to touch the chip without being burnt.
Also, the new Abit KG7-RAID motherboard is comming out this month, I plan on buying one myself with a 1.2ghz processor.
My only problem with the Pentium 4 is that when you go to upgrade your system in a year or two, your going to have to toss the case, motherboard, expensive RAM and your expensive processor since the architecture is changing between each rendition.
Heatsinks aren't just enough, expecially if you live somewhere hot like Arizona (like me). Air flow into the case should keep the air inside the case circulating. Or just leave the case off. Ambiant temp builds up in a fast machine fast.
Make sure you've used thermal paste between the processor and the heatsinnk. Thermal tape isn't good enough for a high end system.
I've been running my 400mhz AMD K6-2 for about 3 and a half years now, and it hasn't given me to many troubles. Even though it's processor fans bearings are pretty much gone from 4 years of constantly on useage.
You should beable to get another processor if you have the statement of a qualified tech who inspected your machine who stated that it was AMD aproved. If he wants to make a big deal out of it, he can have it sent back to AMD to figure out what killed it.
Sorry for the long post.

[Sabre21]

Arocities

I would have to disagree with you about having to dump the motherboard, ram, etc when the pentium 4 gets updraded. If its a completely new chip architecture I might believe some of it, but I have upgraded various pentiums from one speed to another with nothing more than popping out the old and in with the new (thats a II to a II). I have stuck with gateway machines for the Last 12 years and have only encountered 1 problem..and that was with a video card back on a 386 that they replaced in 72 hours. Anyways, I now have a 1.7 Ghz machine, and I have seen where this new motherboard, rdram, etc should be able to support upgrades up to the 10Ghz range (within 5 yrs). This was an article I read a couple months back from one of the computer mags comparing pros and cons between Intell and Athlon. I also got the same thing from Gateway that sells machines with either chipset. My biggest reason for staying intel was upgradability and dependability.

Sabre21

[Crazy_Dog]

I have an Tbird at 1.3Ghz with an MSI MB.
It run perfectly 12-20 hours day everiday.
The problem normaly is get a good board and a very good fan.
Also use (MSI have) a program that monitor the temperature of the cpu.

[Zanthor]

I have had an AMD 1 Ghz for 5 months. Always works great for me. Mother board is the most important consideration. Do your homework before buying one.

I think people find problems with both AMD and Intel in their higher end chips because they are not fully tested. I bet I could find just as many unhappy P4 Users. MotherBoards and such take awhile to catch up to the newer chips.

I try to buy mid line fully tested chips. Let other people work out the bugs in the new stuff. Saved me hundreds in extra costs.