Hi all, am looking to build/buy a new computer in the not too distant future, and am slightly confused about all of the different processors. I would be looking to use the computer for media and gaming.

I just basically want to know what the differences are between like an Intel Core2Duo, an Intel P4 and an AMD Ahtlon64x2. It looks as though the Intel PSUs have the higher GHz rating, but a friend of mine said that the AMD 64x2 was actually much better because it was cooler and both of the cores spoke directly to each other, rather than talking through the motherboard which apparently the Intel ones do. (Have seen a couple of people talking about the temperature of their CPU, is this important other than the obvious reason that it might melt?)

I would be wanting to use this to run a copy of Vista on, money not really an object as I would like it to be able to cope for as long as possible.

If you could help out a complete newbie, then it would be much appreciated. Thanks