Can anyone with both camers compare the two autofocus systems as far as speed. I know they use the same technology but are the speeds the same or is the D3 faster?

This is an important question, one which I'm really struggling to find any solid answers just yet from reviews, and postings. There's a forum thread in this forum section that is discussing this issue as we speak.
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Shivaan My gallery

While I don't have either camera, if your thinking of sports, you should have AFS or HSM type lenses. I would doubt that with an AFS lens the difference would be noticeable. Probably more important than AF speed is can it lock onto the right subject correctly. If the sensor gets confused and locks onto the wrong target, it won't matter how fast the AF can perform. So a better question may be how well does the AF lock perform compared to a D3.

I own a D3 and used a D700 yesterday for about 5 hours shooting fast sport, I had no issues with the AF on the D700. I was using AFS glass. If I am not wrong, does the D3 hav two motors versus one on the 700 to drive non AFS lenses?

Mark.

The D3 has slightly faster AF than the D300 due to having a more powerful CPU - to be expected at 3 times the price.
The D700 brochure confirms the same AF points etc in the AF sensor module as the D3.
The brochure is silent on whether or not the D700 processes the AF information as fast as the D3.

Photography is a bit like archery. A technically better camera, lens or arrow may not hit the target as often as it could if the photographer or archer does not practice enough.

Len Shepherd