1 Pentium 4 vs. 2 Pentium III\'s - What\'s better?

[TheReasonIFailed]

I have quite a dilema here, I\'m looking to upgrade my processor and motherboard.  Last week, I found a nice P 4 1.4 Ghz/mobo combo for a good price and this week I found a Dual  III 1Ghz/mobo combo for a bit less.  I\'m a casual user and I will be using Windows 2000/XP Pro as an O.S.  What do you think would be better?  I play the ocassional games, I have Broadband connection, I use my computer as a jukebox.  What would work better for me?  For me 2 PIII 1GHZ is better than 1 P 4 1.4 Ghz.  What does everybody else think?

brew me a cup. we\'re here for the long haul

[Dexter]

Well hard to say.  In rawest form since you say you\'re not a hardcore user dual cpu would be a bit of a waste.  but when looking at overall performace and future upgrading you\'re better to go with the dual cpu!  If you\'re not a hardcore user that needs raw mhz the second cpu will extent the life much further when you\'re talking about 2 1ghz p3 vs a singe 1.4ghz p4.    you might get 2 years out of that combo before having to upgrade again.

[spockman1]

If your apps don\'t take advantage of multiprocessing, a dual MB would be overkill.  Even though you OS can use both procs, you apps may not (most games don\'t).

[Josetann]

But, within windows he can assign one task to one cpu, and another to the second.  Or say have windows run on the 1st cpu, and other apps on the second.  So yes it can be useful.  But also it\'s generally overkill.  For the money you\'d spend on a dual cpu mobo, and the second cpu...I\'d get a bigger drive, faster cpu, and some more ram.  Maybe even up the video card while I\'m at it.