Need help - Pentium Intel vs AMD

I'm trying to decide between 3 HP computers - I need some info/explanation about the difference between Pentium Intel and AMD.......please.

1) Pentium Intel 2 Quad
2) AMD Athelon 64x2 4400
3) AMD Athelon X2 5000

The Pentium is more expensive but includes more HD, memory Etc. I don't need the extra HD or memory - but I would pay more for the Pentium processor if it is faster or better than AMD.

OH - btw, one "small" note - the Pentium pc comes with a 24" monitor!

The staff person at Costco told me the AMD processors are much slower. Someone else said that's true, but not to worry if you don't do games or have a lot going at once.

Could someone provide some info - advice - input?

Thanks

Liz

Update - I spoke to our computer install/repair person who said Pentium is faster, but for my needs I should be fine with AMD........

I have to make a decision today - back to square one. The Pentium with 24" monitor may be too much - but tempting. The price is $1099 compared to $799 and $699 for the AMD computers.

Liz

I went for a 24" too, 1920x1200 is great for Lightroom.
But you can always buy one later !

Think of it like the Canon/Nikon debate :)
I don't think it will make much difference on the CPU.
If they're both running at 3GHz then I wouldn't mind which I had AMD or Intel :)
If they're not the same speed, I'd buy the faster one !

Liz - I hope your'e still listening. This is a rather interesting one to try to explain.

All recent Windows systems multi-task. The system seems to run multiple programs at the same time. For instance you're running Photoshop to do a batch conversion and surfing Photographyreview while you're waiting, all these activities seem to happen at once. In fact only one program can be running in the processor at one time but the system keeps on switching programs so they all seem to be running at once.

If you get a program that requires a lot of computing - like the batch conversion - you will notice it in your Internet window. The system seems slow.

The two AMD processors have twin cores. This means that they have not one but TWO processors. Your batch conversion is a CPU hog but your Internet window can be running happily on the second core and you won't be slowed down. In reality it's more complex because the two cores share the same peripherals like disk and memory so you may feel the difference.

Having two cores doesn't speed up processing, unless the software is specially written to split the work between multiple cores. If Photoshop is written to give each core different pieces of work to do in parallel then it should finish faster. I know that Nikon NX and my DIVX converter do this.

The Intel processor has a quad core meaning - it has FOUR processors. I have one and it's nice. I need it because I sometimes run a simulator with multiple virtual systems within the same system and it's best to have one core per virtual system