CompuServe Messages

Robin, For normal (boring) applications, both computers are about the same in speed (probably the same in price as well). What makes the Pentium a better choice is its better performance in floating point processing and a pipelined architecture. Both Autocad and 3D Studio use considerable amount of floating point math and can take great advantage of the Pentium. The pipelined architecture will be important for applications that make use of it. This means, for applications specifically optimized for the Pentium. As you are buying a machine to last for a while, this is a strong point as more and more support will be given to this "pipelined architecture". NT for instance is optimized for the Pentium and takes full advantage of it. Regarding your video card options, I don't like either. There isn't, in fact, something out there I like yet. This is too new. The Viper is ok. Diamond, on the other hand is a nightmare when it comes to support. Matrox is too far for serious support (East coast – Canada) though some people here like them. Either way, the Matrox is useless for 3D Studio as there are no drivers for it. Go for the 2Gig SCSI-II drive. There are no compatibility issues.