Verified answer

definitely amd sempron as long as the system has good cooling. since amd's chips tend to run hotter than the celeron chips

I would go with the Compaq Presario Celeron 2.93GHz 256MB 160GB CDRW/DVD No OS, only because the hard drive is BIGGER and this has a PCI Express x16 slot.

But I do not like either system. NEITHER come with Windows OS... so you will have to BUY that separately. That's BOGUS, since that will cost another $200. You might as well buy NEW, instead of these old REFERB dinosaurs.

Buy a "No monitor" computer from WalMart.

Here is just one example:

http://www.walmart.com/search/browse-ng.do?ic=48_0...

Compaq Presario SR5113WM Desktop PC w/ AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 3600+

# 1.9 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 3600+

# 1024 MB RAM, 160 GB hard drive

# DVD burner, Windows Vista Home Basic

# Microsoft Works 8, Roxio Creator and more useful applications

$348.00

It is well worth the price to get a FULL bundle with the Operating system. Since it COMES with Vista, you know that it will work with Vista. Like it or not, Windows Vista IS the future.

Good luck and Happy Computing!

It doesn't matter which processor you use. It's the same. Only thing that matters is whether you have "broadband" [Cable or DSL] or "dialup" internet access. Broadband is faster than dialup. Cable has the same or almost the same speed as DSL, despite people arguing that one is better than the other. Put in an extra cooling fan under the modem to cool it.