It's a male name in the US too. It just happens to be more fun to switch things up. I have countless male sims with females names and vice versa.

Tech support. Custom computers aren't just a matter of plugging components together. Unless you are a computer whiz, you're going to have problems. Many custome computers become expensive paperweights when something goes wrong that the builder can't fix.

Also, as previously mentioned, the box is pretty and looks wayy cute next to my iPod and JBL saucer speakers. 

If referring to Alienware's high price tags there are a few major differences.
1. Customer Service: Dell relies on outsourcing, Alienware's customer service is all handled in country by their employees who are very highly trained. They still have accents usually but that leads us to point two:
2. Minority Employer: Alienware is a minority employer located in Florida. The vast number of their employees are Hispanic, mainly Puerto Rican and Cuban. However, unlike minorities employed in assembly lines like Dell, these people receive training to build high quality goods and are well paid.
3. Quality: Alienware PCs have only the highest quality components whereas Dell tends to put cheaper RAM, motherboards, and harddrives in. Alienware also has an intense quality control system, they delete all the useless extra programs that plague PCs, and they provide you with much more indepth documentation on your system.

Note that I don't recommend Alienware laptops. You put so much high power stuff in a laptop and it overheats in a dramatic fashion. I know this because I have one and it's basically a 3 grand space heater.

It is a very good choice as long as you have an X2 compatible motherboard. By virtue of being a 3.8 ghz chip, it's already very fast on it's own. From discussions with fellow PC builders, they believe that even if a game isn't written to take advantage of the dual core feature, it should be able to handle your background tasks which would free up game power.

As mentioned above, the problem with updating your CPU is that usually you have to just start building a computer from scratch. You can't just pop the case open and stick a new chip in. Also, it's one of the easiest things to install incorrectly. In which case, it becomes far MORE expensive than simply upgrading ram.

Please, never buy Kingston RAM. It's like the Audi of the RAM world. It frequently explodes. Crucial or Corsair.

Sli won't help you much for TS2, except to improve the 3d rendering because TS2 wasn't written with Sli in mind. Works fabulously for Doom III, however. It's most stable when you buy the two cards TOGETHER, from the same batch, though it's supposed to work between any cards of the same make. There are theories why this was done, most of them having to do with nVidia trying to get extra money by forcing people to buy more cards.

Crossfire for ATI has not yet been extensively tested.

Keep in mind that you need a special motherboard both Dual Core and SLi if you decide to go that way. I have an ABIT AN8 Sli Fatal1ty. It handles both.

www.newegg.com
www.zipzoomfly.com

Both sites are great for purchasing hardware, btw.

(It hurts me whenever someone mentions gutting an Alienware. I love mine to death, though it is just a poor inferior laptop.)

Instead of using 3.0 ghz, AMD refers to it as "3000"
3.2 ghz = 3200. Snazzy, huh?
You'd have to really stress your computer out to notice a speed difference between AMD and Intel. I like AMD's customer service and longevity. As processors age and overheat, they lose much of their capability. Most research shows that AMD chips last longer.

X2 refers to being dual core. This means that you actually have TWO processors. Unfortunately, most programs currently don't take advantage of that. 64 refers to it being a 64 bit chip, rather than the standard 32. They are not the same as hyperthreading or hypertransport, which have to do with how information is transported.

If you wanted to do some good research on comparing gaming Intel and AMD pcs, I'd practice configuring them at a site like www.alienware.com and reading the "more info" tabs. Th

Certain websites, ie www.tomshardware.com/, do offer reviews and comparisons but they are often difficult for people unfamiliar with computer hardware terminology to understand. At best, it's frustrating. At worst, your head might explode.

The simple comparison?

PC magazines usually rate AMD as faster than Intel but more expensive. In practicallity, these tests are done with overclocked chips. Most casual users don't, and shouldn't, overclock so the advantage lies more with consumer bias. I like AMD.

nVidia and ATI is really a bias call. I was raised to believe that ATI users were losers with cards that constantly overheated and failed. I don't know any ATI fans so this has never actually been tested, but being American, I go by instinct rather than logic or statistics. Meanwhile, the Simi Valley, California chapter of nVidia Legions is holding a session to mock ATI Crossfire this weekend and I will be in attendance.

Apologies for offending any ATI users. I know you can't help it.