Best CPU and Mobo to get?

[Eon_Blue]

Within the next few months I am going to build a new PC and I was wondering what CPU and motherboard I should get. I am wanting to spend about $500 for the combo... what do you think I should get? I usually go through newegg but if you have any other good sites to buy from thats fine.

I don't have too many preferences on the features of the mobo... I'd like to have slots for up to 4GB of dual channel RAM (DDR400 or better), and connectors for SATA drives.

and for the processor, I don't care if it is AMD or Intel, i just want to get the best processor I can for the money.

any help would be great, thanks!

btw, ive been considering the Intel Pentium 4, 3.2E GHz 800MHz FSB, 1MB L2 Cache along with the ASUS "P4C800-E DELUXE" i875P Chipset Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU. Do any of you know anything about these? Also will I notice much difference between the 1MB L2 cache and the 512k L2 cache version? there is only like a $11 difference between the two.

My current computer has an Athlon 2000+ which I've had no problems at all with... personally I would tend to lean toward AMD but a very computer-savy friend of mine always rambles on about how Intel is so much better and how even though i can get a 64 bit AMD, i should still go with Intel.

But anyway I'm thinking about spending $270 - $330 on the processor, and the remaining $170-230 on the mobo, but if i can get a better processor with a cheaper mobo that would be great too

[byunews]

Don't waste money on a Pentium E when the Cs are cheaper, cooler and perform better. If you're going Intel, I would suggest the 3.2C over the 3.2E. The motherboard you chose sounds shibby though.

[ExSuS]

I agree with byunews get a 3.2 C not an E. Ive heard that asus board is very good too. Sounds like a good system. I prefer AMD to intel though, but its up to you.

[sapper_eng]

ASUS P4P800-E Deluxe or the ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe - SWEAR BY THEM - The best mobos around.

[RamonGTP]

Thats your friends fanboyism talking, not his savvyness.

It really depends on what you're going to use it for. Both CPU's will do everything well. The Athlon64 does gaming better than the P4. The P4 does video/audio encoding better than the A64.

I personally would go with the A64 route simply because I do a lot more gaming that I do video encoding.

[MTAtech]

Originally Posted by Eon_Blue

My current computer has an Athlon 2000+ which I've had no problems at all with...

Save your money. If you haven't had any problems with your current system (including performance) why get a new one?

For most applications last years PC is fast enough. Just because Intel and AMD come out with ever faster CPUs doesn't mean that the consumer needs the extra speed. I've upgraded to faster machines only to see basically no real application performance improvement.