remember

To tlarkin:

A work horse sounds pretty good to me, as opposed to what exactly, I dont know.

As for your recommendation of not using the xeon processor itself vs the C2duo because of the price, the C2duo is is $310 and the Xeon is $360, so to me it seems like getting 4 cores for $50 more is pretty good. Despite the 1.6Ghz vs. 2.4 Ghz difference, I like doing a lot of multitasking Internet exploring, so I am just trying to figure out what are the technical differences between all of this. Ideally Id like to find a place where I can compare the speeds of the xeon processors with the C2d, like tomshardware site, but dont know where that is.

Lastly all the Core 2 duo are 1066FSB, and so is the xeon model in discussion. I think when the Xeon model goes above either 1.83 or 2.0 Ghz, the FSB becomes 1366, but those are way more than I can spend. So the FSB's are the same for these 2 models, but where can I see what the actual speed differences are between the Core 2duo's and this Xeon quad 1.6Ghz?

tlarkin

no you are right they finally dropped in price, however, the cheapest 771 mobo I found on the net was 350 plus shipping here is an example i found from pricewatch.com

http://www.serversdirect.com/product...product=107844

We run HP Proliant servers at my work, and there is a reason they cost 3000 dollars, because the hardware is expensive. I don't think any one user can really put that hardware to its fullest unless you do massive 3D rendering or massive digital vide/audio.

If you are actually referring to the woodcrest xeon chip, then yes they are expensive.

In all honesty, why don't you just go buy a Mac Pro? It comes standard with Dual Xeons, can run windows natively, and better than a lot of PCs, and you get to use all the mac only apps like apeture, dvd studio, final cut studio, etc.

remember

To tlarkin:
My first computer was a Mac about 15 years ago, but I dont know why I dont buy a mac. Considering that I know very little about computers, and 90% of computers being non-mac, I just feel more secure that its generally better or preferred to have a non-mac/PC?

Also, you mentioned Dual Xeons; the one(s) Im considering are Xeon quad.

From what Ive read, "the internet is basically just made up of millions of servers" and I would like to get involved with many things related to the internet, like establishing my own forum for specific agriculture discussion, as well as setting up camera systems and being able to watch them from where I want as well as having my own websites for various products/initiatives I have always wanted to promote. I just hope that I can get some good intros and learn this subject fast and easy.