I have to disagree with you. Most cost-effective CPU is unquestionably the AMD Athlon Thunderbird. By my price check this morning at one of my suppliers' sites, the 1 GHz Athlon is right around $192. By contrast, the 1 GHz P-III is up around $345 or $415 depending on chip packaging... and the Athlon is distinctly more powerful. Even the 1.2 GHz Athlon is only $294!
I don't believe cost was the real issue. I believe from what I have read there were more worried about heat and power consumption.
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/01/17/2112212&mode=thread Thats what that little article would have you believe at least. jake smith
I won't even get into the prices of the P-IV, since for our business it provides no clear advantage whatsoever and instantly prices itself out of the race. The only significant disadvantage of the Athlon right now is lack of multiprocessor support, a detail I hope they fix ASAP.