Jamin43

Intel Build i720
CPU Core i7 - 268
MOBO Gigabyte none have GPU 200
Corsair 650W PSU 70
DDR 3 RAM 3x2 100
GPU (no MOBO w/ card ) 50 0-
OS ( Win 7 Free for now ) - 100
Case - 50
HDD 500 GB - 70
TOTAL 908 ( 808 til June 10 )

AMD BUILD AM3 - 720
AMDTriple Core - 139
ASUS w/ video onboard - 139
PSU 70
RAM 4 GB DDR 3 50
GPU - on MOBO - Free
OS - Free for now 100
Case - 50
HDD 500 GB 70
TOTAL 618 ( 518 out of pocket til June 10 )

I've been reading about the AMD vs Intel Core i7 - and that i7 chip looks pretty sweet for a 5 year window ahead - with 8 thread capability - but it's 908 for the PC w/o monitor and I've never spent more than 450 for a PC with Keyboard / Monitor / speaker setup and I tend to hang onto them for a while ( I'm have 2 P4 PC's that are daily users ).

AM3 is a new Socket - will they catch Intel so in 3 years in this socket - so I can put in a new processor in a few years and be happy with my purchase for the long haul. I've been purchasing budget DELL PC's forever - and held em for 4-5 years. I'd like to have a PC that's not so dated that I can keep current - and building from scratch interests me more than the path of buying a new Dell every 5 yrs.

Right now going back and forth between 2 old P4 PC's functioning as 1 (neither 1 serves my purposes ) and it's getting a bit old. I can't swing the price of that i7 though - unless the prices are coming down by about half by the end of the year along with the RAM. Whatever I get - I'd like to use most of the PC purchase for 3-5 years ( MOBO / Operating system / HDD / RAM / PSU / CASE - and upgrade maybe a CPU at about the same price point or lower if there's a notable technology advance to pace with Intel's i7.

Below the i7 - it's DDR2 memory - with an older 775 socket and in that price range I'm looking at a dual core processor which seem to be on the way out / more of a budget PC build again.

Keeping in mind budget is about as high as I would go with the AMD posted above - any suggestions to shave price - or logic to go a different direction -- or does that seem like the best direction to go ( I thought about a dual core but figured I'd have to replace the MOBO and DDR2 for any upgrade in 2 or 3 years which would mean more $ out the window ). My other options are waiting for the price of i7 to come down alot - and I'm guessing that's not happening anytime soon. Reading up on the Phenom II the past 2 days - it's an improvement over the Phenoms but nothing groundbreaking.