Rich's Tongfamily (Richtong.net add-on)

Well, we’re getting closer to a big architectural shift. In 2H04, there will be a new pinout for processors from Intel (over 700 pins), a move to a new bus (called PCI Express). Intel’s Prescott has shipped, so their costs have gone way down (going from 130nm process to 90nm means its much cheaper), so you can expect they’ll have room to just hammer AMD. AMD on the other hand is rolling out their 64-bit line.
In the mean time, what to buy right now. Well, if I were getting a good price-performance system. Here is what I’d get. My buddy Jeff was asking what a good system would be that would last a while:
* Athlon 64 3000+. These are very modestly priced at $200 or so.
* Shuttle SN85G4. A nice box with decent performance.
* Kingston HyperX 1GB PC3200 RAM. More than enough.
* Western Digital 200GB WD2000PB. This is the fluid bearing model. Moderate price, lots of disk..
* Optorite DD0401. An 8x DVD Writer.
* Logitech Wireless keyboard and mouse. Keeps the computer clean.
* Benq FP991. A great flat screen.
* GeForce 5900 SE. A great value card if you ever want to play a game.