If you really want to max out an AM2 board, Phenom IIs can be had dirt cheap, especially if you're not after the X6 parts. I got an X3 720 Black Edition for literally under $10 USD shipped. It's also an 89W part (assuming you don't unlock the 4th core) and should be a pretty solid direct-swap upgrade for the 64x2 4800+ I'm replacing. (Caveat: I haven't actually swapped it in yet.)

But yeah, I agree a 6000+ is still a nice chip, and should be absolutely fine for a "light office" Linux machine. You might want to bump it up to 8GB RAM for surfing.

386SX wrote:

P4 3,4: CPU Blowfish test: 10,5 seconds 6000+: 6.5 seconds (lower better) […]
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P4 3,4: CPU Blowfish test: 10,5 seconds
6000+: 6.5 seconds (lower better)

P4 3,4: FPU Raytracing test: 55 seconds
6000+ 7 seconds (lower better) 😲

No surprises there. It’s using both cores of the x2, plus K8 has a much faster FPU than Netburst. That’s what made it so dang good for games back in the day. 😀

max out an AM2 board, Phenom IIs can be had dirt cheap

Not every board can work with Phenom.

Standard Def Steve wrote:

386SX wrote:

P4 3,4: CPU Blowfish test: 10,5 seconds 6000+: 6.5 seconds (lower better) […]
Show full quote

P4 3,4: CPU Blowfish test: 10,5 seconds
6000+: 6.5 seconds (lower better)

P4 3,4: FPU Raytracing test: 55 seconds
6000+ 7 seconds (lower better) 😲

No surprises there. It’s using both cores of the x2, plus K8 has a much faster FPU than Netburst. That’s what made it so dang good for games back in the day. 😀

I wasn't expecting such difference. But still the P4 3,4 with SSE3 for a socket 478 cpu, is incredible in the real world os usage. I always preferred the XP 3200+ back in the past but it's all another world really.