well it all depends on if you are buying your computer today or this year, if its this year i would seriously recomend a nforce4 mobo(sli) + a gf6800 gt pcix(pci express) just so you can upgrade it further on by picking up one more card, thats how i usualy buy the few times i start on a completely new rig, making sure i get as much future headroom as possible leaving room for possible improvements for a long time, which is cheaper in the long run then buying a brand new computer all the time. the upgrade path is also why im recommending a 939 motherboard and particularly the nforce4. however as i said earlier on and as oshyan has pointed out if youre concerned about money today then sli and nforce 4 is out of the question. and the same goes for if you need your rig today since it wont be available for some time. dont know i agree with alot of what oshyan said,but i woudnt pick up a 739 motherboard today. then again most ppl dont change cpu that often so by the time youll get your next cpu/computer youll most likely get a dual amd setup, or if intel has something better in 2006 picking up that. Either way you go you would shoot yourself in the foot if you bought a p4, unless youre using a specifiq application that does run faster on the p4, there are some instances and applications thats running better on a p4, but in the majority of todays situation amd64 is the clear choice. as far as p4 being the value option, instead of taking our word for it, check the anandtech test, you get less performance for the same amount of money or even more, so p4 is not the value option, its just less performance for as much or more money at the moment generaly speaking, but check some in depth tests and see for yourself its alot easier :)