I have never been impressed with AMD performance since the old 486 days (yes I had an AMD DX2 80). Since then they have made improvements but I still count them as second-class chipmakers. The speed/performance/reliability has NEVER matched Intel. And Q: what type of chip needs "patches" to run software A: AMD. Once and for all AMD is an inferior chip, I have used them in new builds & upgrades and all of them have had problems. If you are too cheap to afford a real chip then DO NOT BUY A COMPUTER. I think Intel needs competition but the AMD is just a cheap knock off. Want performance buy a PIII Xeon, want headaches buy anything else (including AMD). My 2 cents