Might be a dumb question but I'm gonna ask it anyway. I've got two PC's 1 is a AMD 1000Mhz, the other PC is a Pentium III 500Mhz both have equal Ram (512Meg). Would one box be better than the other? Box 1 is a in a mid size box and Box 2 is in a Compaq EN full size box.Both are tower PC's

doesnt really matter......if you are experienced in playing around with clock speeds in BIOS, I always change the settings for optimal performance....

The 1 GHz (1000 MHz) AMD box is going to outpace the ol PIII by quite a bit.

I agree, the AMD will win solely because of clock speed. Other than that, they're about equal. Overclocking the newer chips isn't really advisable because for the little bit of speed increase, you decrease the life of the chip a lot.

Technology will outdate that chip before it dies from being overclocked. I have always bought a new computer before any of my overclocked chips died. Heat is its worst enemy.
It also depends on the bus speed, graphics card and what you plan on using the computer for, to determine which box is best.

Just to add, if the AMD system is in a mid-tower case, you can probably get in there and replace the components with industry standard motherboards, drives, and controllers. The same cannot be said for the Compaq.