Gary> I built a PC for myself last May based on the AMD 64 X2 5600 and Gary> this motherboard: Gary> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131095 Gary> It works like a champ with no issues or problems. That is a nice board, and looks to be pretty much what I'd want. Plenty of built-in stuff, yet expandable down the road. I need PCI slot(s) because of my 8port serial board and my SCSI controller for tape backups. Eventually I'll be going down the line to something else, or a PCIe 1x SCSI controller, etc. Lots of room for expansion here. I reallly like this board for the firewire interface as well. Did you get a case with a front mount firewire port as well? Gary> I'm somewhat of an AMD fanboy but I'd admit Intel has the better Gary> processors these days, but if you are looking for an attractive Gary> price/performance ratio I think the AMD chips still have that Gary> edge. I'm mixed right now honestly. I really like how Intel has released lots of specs for their hardware, esp their video cards. AMD/ATI has made a good push in this direction too, so I'm leaning ATI for graphics no matter what. My needs are simple, rock sharp 2-d text, and some OpenGL or video performance for Stellarium or other graphics programs like that. My most graphical game is pysol. :] I just don't have time/energy to spend playing games right now, esp with two small kids in the house. I play Thomas the Tank engine instead now. *grin* Thanks again for all the suggestions guys! And gals... :] John