Check out the K6-2: http://www.tomshardware.com/k6-2.html.  The new K6 has
some 3D extensions which bring it's performance up to the level of a PII of
the same clock speed for games (if the game supports the 3DNOW extensions)

  It looks like AMD did a better job with their 3dnow extensions than intel
did with MMX.  There is support in directx6, glide & some video card drivers.
You'll see the best increase (100%!) in games with direct support, or ones
that use a supported 3D engine (direct3d or opengl once the drivers are out)
There is a version of quakeII with 3dnow support that gets 57.1 fps on a K6-2
(333/95) while a (much more expensive) pentiumII 350/100 gets 58.7.

  You won't see much of an increase in older 3D games + the K6-2 is still
lacking in raw FPU power.  Pricewatch has a K6-2 300 listed at $225.  The
lowest price on a pentiumII 300 is $247.  The PII prices are supposed to drop
quite a bit in the next few months, expect AMD to track them.  The older K6
chips should get really cheap (in much the same way as non-MMX chips)  You may
want to consider a K6 200 with a good 3D card.  As John stated, a good 3D card
will make a big difference with any CPU.

Kerry


John Chin wrote:

> K-6 also has MMX; moreover, it has twice the cache
> of the Intel Pentium MMX. However, the K-6's FPU
> (on-board math coprocessor) is not nearly as fast as
> the Intel MMX (important for games). But you get more
> than for the buck with AMD.
>
> Therefore, as a gamer, you should go Intel CPUs (plus,
> when game developers code they usually use Intels).
> I recommend you get a Pentium II when the prices
> drop in July. Decent LX chipset motherboards are
> hitting the $100 level (wholesale) so the CPU price
> is the main difference (switchover to DIMMs is not
> bad since the prices per MB are same as SIMMs,
> except for the PC-100 compliant -- i.e. BX-chipset,
> Front Side Bus RAM). The speed boost with the
> 1/2 CPU-speed cache onboard the P-II makes a
> difference.
>
> But with games, the 3D performance of your video
> subsystem is more important. Adding a Monster 3D-II
> board would really boost your game system, and that
> upgrade costs more than any Socket 7 CPU.
>
> Regards,
>
> John Chin