You lie. Each Mac is individually sprinkled with fairy dust by Steve Jobs so it defies physics.

Actually, it's quite possible. I've seen tests where worse specced machines outperform supposedly better hardware in a real world test. Simply measuring clock speeds and megs of RAM is a good way to get a general impression of how fast a computer is, but things like logic board design have a real impact on performance, and are very hard to gauge without testing.

I have a Dell Inspiron 1525 that I will be using for school and basic computing functions. I think I got the upgraded RAM and wireless-N card along with Vista, and I have had only one problem where my sound stopped working, but it was only a matter of re-installing the driver. If your purpose is only for school and basic functioning, I would definitely recommend the Inspiron 1525, with all the upgrades I got it was only like $625, they always have deals on them so wait for it to go on sale.

If you need to do more I wouldn't recommend anything with Vista on it.

Given the first line of your sig, I'd like to see some benchmarks validating that on a consistent basis.

In my experience, unless you're using absolute bargain basement motherboards and comparing them to top end, then the natural variance between supposedly equivalent components far outweighs extra performance due to a motherboard.

Sorry, I really don't care enough to do the legwork for you.

So why bother posting in the first place and making yourself look daft?

Because sometimes it's nice to just say things, and not present a research paper to back them up.

I've played the 'I demand you present evidence' game. Usually people just find some excuse to dismiss your evidence without presenting any counter evidence at all.

Maybe that makes me 'look daft,' but it's not as daft as running around in circles trying to appease somebody who's just going to say, "I don't believe you because I don't believe your evidence, so there."

Like I said, I really don't care enough about what you think to bother.

Why would I say that? If you have evidence, and not just some anecdotes, then post them. Your assertion seems to be that the motherboard used in Macs gives a significant performance boost outweighing the variance between components. Mine is that different chip sets don't seem to matter all that much, based on a number of motherboard tests I've seen- just type 'motherboard round-up' into Google for various links.

I see you've edited your original post and added 'doing your legwork', but it's your assertion in the first place. If you have seen benchmarks to the contrary then post them up. If not, then go for the second part of your sig.

Care to quote where I made that assertion? You're seeing what you want to see.