<< Also let me add I and NOS run FULL multimedia computers. To clarify the vocabulary thing again when I say full I mean all pci slots are full with the following items: modem, TV card, DVD decoder card, network card, and soundcard. You can put the whole lot of them in and just let windows configure them without a hitch. Now that is what I call a smooth running ROCK STABLE system and it ain't named AMD. >>
So is mine. The reason I bought a Duron over a T-Bird was that I was a little short on cash at the time, but a T-Bird is on the horizon. I have a TV card, network card, sound card (soon to be getting a DVD decoder card), and all setup without a hitch on my ABIT KT7. In fact, I'm using the same components that came out of my old P2 system: I'm using the same 2 1/2 year old 300 watt P/S (not AMD approved) and case, and my old Diamond Monster MX300 (Vortex 2) sound card, which is supposedly "incompatible" with the VIA KT133 chipset, same old PC 100 RAM, same TV card, etc. Maybe the fact that I upgraded instead of buying everything new helped, but this system is really solid (just like my old P2 350). I had to tweak it, of course, just like my previous Intel rig.
It's not to say I just put everything in at first and it ran perfect; I read about the potential problems BEFOREHAND, so, I knew what to encounter. But, the same would go for an Intel system, too. I've found that 99% of the time it's an OS issue; "Plug and Pray" was a nightmare on every Intel system I had prior to my current AMD rig. I blame that $hit on Microsoft -- not Intel.