okay, two questions:

1) would I be terribly ill advised to go with a socket 754 MB instead of 939? I know 754 will be phased out, but I could probably get one more good upgrade out of it when the high-rated athlon64s drop in price. ( I don't plan to go dual core for quite a while)

2) If i did go with the 754, how much of a setback would I see if I went with a higher rated Sempron, say, this one (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104231) , rather than a lower-rated athlon like, this little guy (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103485) ?

3) okay, I lied, three questions: what the difference between the NForce4-4X and NForce4 Ultra chipsets?

I am going to leave the particulars to someone else, but what is your budget and what are you going to use the system for? Also do you have any parts you will be reusing - monitor, CD/DVD drives etc.? Or do you need a whole new system?

That being said, a socket 754 system can be a very nice budget system. And s754 will be around for quite awhile yet.

oh yeah, I'm hoping to go around 600-700 USD for the system sans monitor. I have a few things I will reuse: case, CD-RW and DVD drives, I have one HDD, but it's from my old notebook so I'm gonna get a small SATA one.

SO basically for 600-700 I need a MB, CPU, Video Card, PSU, and RAM. Anything left I will use to get a new monitor and some extra goodies like case fans and a better heatsink, etc.

If your budget is only $600-700, go with Socket 754. Semprons make nice budget systems, and if you know you won't be upgrading to the uber-CPU's anytime soon, it would be your most practical option. It's better to take a drop in technology rather than take a hit in quality hardware!

3) okay, I lied, three questions: what the difference between the NForce4-4X and NForce4 Ultra chipsets?The NF4 Ultra is the main chipset of choice for mid-range Athlon64 systems on Socket 939. It offers all the benefits of the NF4 SLI chipset (like built-in NVidia firewall, PCIe x16, and SATA II support) without the extra cost of SLI.

The NForce4-4X chipset replaced the NForce4 (plain) chipset as the value version. This one lacks support for NVidia's firewall, only supports SATA 150, and of course for Socket 754 you have single-channel RAM instead of dual-channel. The "-4X" version also adds support for a fake AGP slot - ie, an AGP slot running off a couple PCIe lanes (not sure how many). The idea with this chipset is to offer cheaper mobo's for Sempron-based systems, and to allow for gradual upgrades by supporting both AGP 8X and PCIe x16 vid cards. Other than being the "value" version, the NF4-4X chipset does offer a lot of modern conveniences, like onboard gigabit LAN, onboard 6- to 8-channel audio, 10 USB 2.0 ports, 4 SATA ports (even if they're only SATA 150), and of course PCIe x16 for next-gen vid cards. Considering mobo's based on the NF4-4X chipset are in the $60-80 price range, they're a heck of a deal!

okay, that's what I thought. I'd like to play some games, but I'm not looking for 4000 FPS with all settings maxed. So as long as it's not gonna turn into a fireball when I play, I'll probably go with a Sempron 754 unless my budget kicks up, which it might. BTW, how much would you think prices will drop (if any) if I wait till after the holidays to build?

Expensive parts are always dropping in price as the next-gen parts come out. Lower-end stuff barely moves. Once a CPU goes under $80, it won't last much longer on the market. Same with mobo's under $60. And vid cards under $40 (the golden oldies). If your budget was 2-3 times that, I would say waiting might be worth it if you can. In your price range, waiting might save you $20-30, or allow you to spend the same amount on faster parts.

But then again, unless you're waiting a couple months so that you can increase your budget by a couple hundred, or if you're waiting to increase a budget that's too low for a new system, I generally don't recommend waiting. If you have your budget set and you're ready, just buy the parts! Because no matter when you buy, 6 months from now new stuff will be out and making you drool all over again. This is true no matter how much money you spend. Don't play the waiting game! It will just make you frustrated.

I'll probably wait then, cuz my budget will at leat increase to 1100, possibly a bit more....

If the budget will go up- then wait, otherwise I wouldn't.

I'll probably wait then, cuz my budget will at leat increase to 1100, possibly a bit more....1100 would be awesome! :cool: Yeah, definitely wait!