Upgrading old custom built computer

[TopGear]

Hi
Configure:CPU, Mobo, and Video Card 16x
I am trying to decide whether I should get an AMD 64 OR AMD X2 which one is better?
My friend told me get x2>64 but I saw in benchmarks the venice 3000 out performs the x2.
Price $600 max

CPU
AMD Venice 3800 or 3000
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetai...uctCode=80721-5
or
AMD X2 3800 Manchester $295
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetai...uctCode=80721-1

Motherboard
Asus A8N-SLI nForce4 SLI Athlon 64(FX) Skt939 $122 2 pci-e slots
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetai...ductCode=240422
or
MSI

Video Card
ATI x700 <$179
http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2584957
OR
nVidia 6600GT $137
Chaintech SE6600G GeForce 6600 GT
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetai...ductCode=323275

Would this be good setup?
Would it be better to get Intel or AMD?
Also ATI or nVidia?
Upgrading to have a better performance and gaming, faster load up, etc

Oh yeah the stuff like case, mem 1gb 512x2 pc3200,key, mous,monitor,etc I already have.

 

[Dan17]

Well first thing, its not a good thing to ask intel or amd and nVidia or ATI...this will start a huge battle inbetween the long-time supporters and such, lol

Well since it has been proven many times, AMD is the better performer in the game performance market. So most likely you will want to go with AMD since you are a gamer. Unless you are planning on working in an environment that uses multithreads, most likely you'd be better off going with an AMD 64 instead of an AMD 64 X2 since in games, the second core really doesn't matter since games are mainly single threaded. All the benchmarks I have seen show that the single core equivalent processors are the same as their dual core counterparts.
This is the reason you saw that the 3000+ is equivalent/better than the 3800+ X2.

As for the video card I'm not too sure, from what I heard the 6600GT is a performs very well for its price. A X800XL is better than it but I don't know how it performs compared to a X700.

And for the motherboard I haven't got a clue since I still use AGP and haven't really researched any PCIe motherboards.

But hopefully this CPU information will help you in your decision.

...Dan