I'm trying to figure out what AMD CPU is comparable to a P4 Intel CPU running at 3.0 Ghz.

And that you know has no compatability issues with linux! Off course off course!

I used to have a P4 3.0 Ghz machine but it mysteriously died after a thunderstorm. I paid about $500 bucks for that machine at the time I bought it and nowadays I have to use my old PIII with XP because it's too slow with SuSE 10.2 which I just installed.

I have to replace my machine so I can get back to a linux distro, I need to stay away from windoze!!!!!

I'm looking at a bunch of systems on bestbuy that are around $400 but they're all AMD.

Any hardware person that has some knowledge on this, can you please give me your input???

I'm not going to pay the extra $$$ just to have an Intel CPU.

This time I want to go for an AMD processor that is not as expensive as the Intel CPU but that has about the same processing power.

You should consider building your own, I did recently. Has better specifications that what I could've gotten in a retain store.

I used a Athlon 64 X2 3600+, runs stock at 1.9 Ghz and overclocks easily to 2.4, if you so desire. Probably beats the pants off of a P4 3.0 Ghz, using less power too.

Well, my secondary computer has an AMD 3800+. Very nice although hardly a match for the monster that I use for the more intensive tasks. Anyway, it should easily keep up with a PIV 3Ghz although its stock speed is "only" 2.4Ghz. AMD's single cores were always better than Pentium IV and their numbers were not chosen randomly but as an indication of their power: a 3800 is claimed to perform on a par with a Pentium that runs at about 3.8Ghz, a 3000 with a Pentium at 3Ghz, etc.

Don't underestimate the role of RAM in overall performance. I find that Suse runs very smoothly with 1GB DDR400 (2 x 512MB) although 512MB may be fine as well. I certainly wouldn't recommend any less, however.

The future, of course, is in multi-core CPUs. The bottom-line AMD X2 models have become really affordable but they may not perform as well as a higher-clocked single core in all situations. There simply isn't enough software yet that knows to use more than one CPU core in an intelligent way (if at all). Of course, if you can get a 2.4Ghz dual-core for little more than the price of a single core 2.4Ghz, you may as well go for the dual core.

An AMD Athlon64 3200+ (socket 754) is comparable to a Pentium 4 3.0 GHz. Though a Pentium III can easily run Linux, but depends what you are doing.

Buying a computer at Bestbuy will provide POS (pieces of shit) setups. Like some others have said, in order to know if the computer will work with Linux, it is best to build the computer.

The following is a list of parts that you could get.

GIGABYTE GA-M61SME-S2 or GIGABYTE GA-M61P-S3
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ /w 1 MB L2 for each core
(2) Kingston 1GB DDR2-800 ECC (KVR800D2E5/1G)
Western Digital Caviar RE 250GB (WD2500SB)
ASUS DVD Rewritable (DRW-1814BL)
SeaSonic S12 SS-330GB
SIGMA LUNA WB (ATX Aluminum case)

If you need a floppy drive, pick a TEAC drive because they are very durable and reliable when connecting the power cable to them incorrectly. I do not like cases that have lighted fans, but the Li-Lan case that I was going to put in the list has weird construction that places the power supply on the bottom or in front of case where heat can build up and overheat the power supply or the surrounding components. Aluminum cases are the lightest, so it will make the build a lot easier if this is your first time. ECC memory makes the computer reliable and stable. Also it minimizes data corruption. The motherboard contains on-board nVidia graphics, so you do not have to spend money on a video card at this time and you should have minimal problems using it in Linux. The motherboard has a PCIe slot for a higher performance video card. The components in the list could be bought at newegg.com.

I suggest do not use SUSE. Use a different distribution like Ubuntu.

Thank you all for your replies, they were greatly helpful!!!

For now, all I need is the motherboard, CPU, and memory.

I may have to buy a decent video card later.

I also have parts from my previous machine so I don't need to worry about hard drive(I have both IDE and SATA) or CD/DVD rom.

The most I am planning to spend on the machine is about $300~$400.

However, I'm looking at the prices on newegg.com and if I were to buy the motherboard with case, cpu and memory I might end up spending more than $300. Just the barebone systems cost around $300 and I believe they only include motherboard and case, it has no CPU and no memory.

The only reason I'll consider buying a machine on best buy is for the warranty. I've been having really bad luck with linux. The first 2 times I had linux touch my machine the hard drives got corrupted and I had to recover my data and reinstall again. This last time when I had linux up and running perfectly on my new machine not only did the hard drive completely totally die this time but also the rest of the machine mysteriously refused to work after a thunderstorm in my area.

I'm not giving up hope yet though!

If you know of any site or know of a system you can recommend please let me know! Thank you all for your input, it has been really helpful.

Barbones at newegg.com contains a bad motherboard and power supply. When I build computers, I try to select near the best, so the computer can last a long time. I have two computers lasting a long time even when the room temperature is 85 degrees F.

If a distribution has ReiserFS, do not select it. If you did not select ReiserFS as the filesystem, then something is wrong with your setup.

I do not worry about the warranty like some others. If a hard drive goes within a year, than it is either how you handle it during installation or the shipper that you selected. Though the number one of all computer problems is quality of the power supply and how correct the AC outlet is wired. The next is heat.

I suggest the following brands for each component in the computer
Motherboard: Abit or Gigabyte
Memory: Crucial, Kingstion, Mushkin, OCZ, Corsair
Hard Drive: Hitachi or Western Digital
CD/DVD: Plextor or ASUS
Floppy: TEAC
Video Card: XFX or BFG (nVidia based)
Sound Card: Turtle Beach, Audiotrak, or M-Audio
NIC or Network: 3Com or Linksys
56kbit Modem: 3Com (aka US Robotics)
Power Supply: Eneramax or Seasonic

It is best to turn off the computer and all electronics in the house/apartment when there is a thunderstorm.

Anyone else had problems with the motherboard and power supply in the barebone systems from newegg????

The only time I ever bought something from newegg a few weeks ago I was very much satisfied with the prompt delivery.

But now I'm worried the system might sustain damage while en route. Anyone ever bough a barebone systems from newegg?? Can you please share your experience with the rest of the class? Thanks!!!

All AMD CPU is based on Intel x86 Architecture
So you can go for any AMD processor
i Suggest you to go for Athlon X2
The difference here is that X2 is 64-bit with two cores and Intel core 2 duo is 32-bit also with 2 cores
for 64-bit u need 64-bit OS, drivers and application to get most out of it, it doesn't mean that you can't run 32-bit OS on it

I suggest buy some parts this month and some parts the next month. Also some parts in the third month. Then put the pieces together. Sure you will spend a little more, but you will get quality parts that last longer. I suggest do not go with barebones.

That information is wrong. An AMD Athlon64 can run both 32-bit and 64-bit programs. Also there is no slow down when using 32-bit. 64-bit programs are not up to par as 32-bit, so performance is actually worst. Multimedia programs compiled with 64-bit instruction are a little faster.

Intel core 2 duo is 64-bit chip. It uses EM64T which is the same as AMD's 64-bit instructions. AMD is the king of 64-bit instructions for 80x86 processors. Intel is just a follower in this instruction set.

The benefits of using a 64-bit processor with a 64-bit OS are memory capacity can huge (close to a terabyte) and very large data can be process with out breaking it apart.