Athlon 2800 vs 3000 vs Intel 2.66?

I'm in the market for an economy PC to hold me over for a year or so.
I see Price Watch lists several vendors that can sell a complete
Athlon 3000, 2800 and Intel P4 2.66 system (without OS) for around
$200. I do a little video editing, but gaming performance is my main
priority. I found a few benchmark comparisons that showed the Athlon
2800 beating the 3000 in several areas, but it wasn't clear whether it
was overclocked. Other web sites conflicted with that info & said the
3000 does out-perform the 2800 in most areas, but only marginally.
Both Athlon's out-performed the P4 2.66 benchmarks in most areas that
matter to me. Cost being equal, is the Athlon 3000 the best best?

"JeffLaw" js_lawrence wrote in message
m...
I'm in the market for an economy PC to hold me over for a year or so.
I see Price Watch lists several vendors that can sell a complete
Athlon 3000, 2800 and Intel P4 2.66 system (without OS) for around
$200. I do a little video editing, but gaming performance is my main
priority. I found a few benchmark comparisons that showed the Athlon
2800 beating the 3000 in several areas, but it wasn't clear whether it
was overclocked. Other web sites conflicted with that info & said the
3000 does out-perform the 2800 in most areas, but only marginally.
Both Athlon's out-performed the P4 2.66 benchmarks in most areas that
matter to me. Cost being equal, is the Athlon 3000 the best best?

The OEM version of those three processors cost anywhere from $100 to $170,
with retail boxed versions being more expensive than that. Are you sure you
get a complete system for $200? I realize it's missing the OS, but at that
price point it's probably missing a case, power supply, motherboard, RAM,
hard drive, and video card also. If price was equal, I'd say the Athlon
3000 would be your best bet. If you are looking to save money, you'd be
better off buying a "slower" processor and spending the savings on more
name-brand RAM. -Dave