In fact, let's say you were one of the first people to purchase a PC with a Pentium III in it, maybe even as early as February of this year when they first became available.

What should you do now that it's been six months and faster options are available to you?

Scenario Answer: AMD Athlon 650 CPU + Athlon Mainboard

While this user scenario is not as common as the mainstream media would like to believe (especially when a high-school shooting rampage occurs and "Doom II" is listed as a possible cause of the killer's behavior), it does exist for those who put PC entertainment at the top of their priority list.

We chose the Athlon 650 CPU because at this point it really is the fastest all-around CPU that money can buy. It's price tag is laughable to most of us, coming in at approximately $850 to $900 each, but for the buyer who has the cash to spend it will seem bizarrely appropriate.

We thought about including the purchase of PC-133 SDRAM at the same time the buyer purchases the CPU and mainboard, simply because many resellers will cut sweet deals when sales go over the $1,000 mark. But since PC-133 support in an Athlon board might be as far away as four months from now, it's better just to hang on to existing PC-100 SDRAM and wait for the PC-133 SDRAM to drop in price.

Let's say you are an older member of our audience, possibly with a family and kids already in the picture. And while you may like to play a game or two every other week, you surely can't qualify for the nerd Olympics in any way shape or form due to a lack of passion towards your PC (and the distractions of having a life).

To this person the PC is more of a necessity than it is an entertainment provider or perhaps their business requires it or their kids need it to assist them in scholastic progress. Maybe their significant other pays the bills on the PC, or does the taxes, things of that nature.

Now let's assume that their PC is a couple of years old, maybe it's a P-166 speedster even, and they're looking for a new box to replace it. This person might be into light upgrades, but their level of knowledge isn't high enough to attempt a full mainboard swap or a massive do-it-yourself upgrade.

Budget is a indeed a priority for this person, but they're also keenly aware that this new machine "has to last for two or three years" as the sales reps at Circuit City often hear from their retail walk in customers.

Scenario Answer: Intel Celeron 466 PC

Don't be shocked that a Celeron has reared its ugly head in this Athlon vs. P3 piece, it's there to make buyers understand that the Athlon is NOT a low end solution, nor is it intended to be.