apoppin, Good to see you around brudda Listen, I'm on a A64 3000+@2.2ghz 440DDR AMD 8151 chipset and for gaming A64 is definitely sweet. However, I have to add a few things, first, I've compared alot of data with Duvie between my Barton 2500+@2.43ghz and my A64 3000+@various speeds up to 2.3ghz and a P4c properly configured, as Duvie's done with his, is quite competitive in the areas where the A64 is inherently strong, paricularly once you consider the advantages of hyperthreading and that the P4c is definitely faster where it's primary strengths already lay. In fact in many areas besides gaming my Barton@2.43ghz 422DDR dual channel synch mode is quite competitive with my A64 setup :Q I chose the A64 over the P4C solely because this A64 has got game! Plus I have multiple systems so multitasking isn't a big concern for me, and I intend to familiarize myself with a 64bit OS as soon as it's available to the general public.
Now, since you're into gaming I'd advise the A64 with the others, but if you are looking for gaming performance that is still very good and the ability to do real multitasking, and/or optimize you system for the best overall media encoding experience then the P4c is my suggestion. As to what to buy for an A64 setup Via is a great choice for a 10% overclock and slightly faster than nF3 overall, and of course there are many good boards to choose from. However, throw that Tom's A64 chipset shootout away! It is flawed! He uses all reference boards which only the SiS755 is faster as a reference board than the single ECS retail board based on the chipset, so all the other boards are slower than retail boards based on the chipset. Also, he uses older, slower drivers for the SiS755 board than Anandtech even though his review came out more than a month after Anand's! Anand's article even states that the version of drivers they used increased performance on the SiS755 enough to make it the fastest. This synch with what most other sites have found, that the SiS755 chipset is faster than Via's, especially in HDD performance. However, until a better board based on the chipset is available it's not a viable option. The single board based on the AMD8151 is as fast as the SiS but it's too expensive so don't even consider it. Besides, they're all very close in real world performance so it's just a matter of price and available retail boards quality and performance
OK brudda, now that I've given you some background on the chipsets for the A64 plaform and the limited options available@the moment, I'll recommend a configuration in your budget, and include a very good hardware audio solution since I didn't see you mention having a good sound card already *pardon me if I missed it*
Albatron K8X800 Pro2 which has the Via K8T800 chipset and Via Envy 24PT Hardware 7.1-Channel Audio-$123 *I know someone with this board and it's excellent, plus the audio is superior to the realtek and C-media onboard solutions if you indeed do not have a sound card*
OCZ Performance series 3500DDR-$115
Antec SX1040BII w/400w Smartpower and 2 80mm fans-$98 shipped *Full sized ATX case so it's easier to work inside of and it has a beefier PSU than the mid towers they sell.
A64 3000+ Retail-$227
total-$563
If you decide to go with a P4c then Duvie will hook you up right
Good luck whatever you decide and post back with some results and subjective review of it :beer: