AMD Athlon XP 3000+, 2.1 GHz (AXDA3000DKV4E) OEM / Unboxed Processor

The Athlon XP range have been around for quite some time and still work well. Those who have opted for Windows Vista will probably have had to upgrade their graphics card and increase the amount of RAM memory but not their processor. I still use Windows XP or sometimes Linux though. Certainly it is the higher performance graphics card that take a lot of the load off the main processor but the processor itself can cope perfectly well anyway.
Why I bought this particular one: the XP 3000 is because like most people I am influenced by specifications. The 3000, "Wow!" almost top of the range or at least it was. Perhaps this the beauty of second hand buying. We feel that we are buying the best available, ignoreing what has gone on since - and I can't stand waste. Really any Athlon XP from 2500 to 2800 is fine because it has the 512kb cache (specifications again). Also there is the consideration of interchageability. I look after five computers belonging to friends and family. These computers are all socket A (to accommodate the Athlon and Duron processors)so I know this processor will work in nearly all of them.
Perhaps the equivalent of how we valued precious sones or metals should be given to that small square oblect that arrives antistatically and bubble wrapped that conntains over 50 million transitors and is such an object of wonder.