Budget, amd vs intel + mobo and ram

[noah360]

Hey all,
I was planning on upgrading about 6 months ago but money was needed elsewhere. So right now i have an ANCIENT 754 board with a AMD sempron 3000+. 1 gig of ram and a 1950 ATI PCI 16 card. Actually i run steam games fine, and WoW back when i played. So now i'm ready for some real games. My daily abilities include, itunes, window's messenger, firefox w/ multiple tabs, and sometimes Counterstike or something like that. This handles it OK but can get clippy

So now that you see how desperate i am lol

My budget is around $200 give or take 30 bucks for a mobo, cpu, and ram.
So my first question is, dual, tri, or quad? for the daily use of my computer now listed above.
Doing my first bit of research i see that a AMD quad is only $90 (AMD Phenom 9600 Agena)
Perhaps the low price is for the slower clock times, but still a quad core none the less.

AMD vs. Intel
I DO NOT PLAN TO OC ANYTHING
So what is the best bang for the buck stock
If you would be so kind as to put together a barebone system including compatible CPU, Motherboard, and Ram. Around 200ish dollars, and (optional but would be excited to learn others thoughts) why you chose AMD over Intel or visa versa. and why the mobo is what you picked out if anything other than price.

Possibly one of AMD's X2 II cores look about what i might need but please educate me, i've been out of computers for quite some time

Thank you all so much, i am sure this post sounds weird reading as i am doing this quickly to find the results and order some stuff!

-Noah

 

[noah360]

if any specs needed please ask as needed

 

[jj463rd]

Don't touch the Phenom 9600.That was the original (Defective) Phenom series replaced a few months later with ones that were fixed
Here is an incredible deal just seen since yesterday.
This is a quad core 3.0 Ghz Phenom II 940 AM2+ with a 790GX motherboard for $195.So you will need DDR2 Ram for that though but that's inexpensive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.209473

Oh I forgot there is also a $20 mail in rebate too in addition.
So for about $50 you could get 4 GB of DDR2 RAM.
So basically with this sale over at newegg you can get a fast quad core and motherboard for about the same price as a dual core or tri core and motherboard.

 

[Bluescreendeath]

Go for intel if you live next to a Microcenter.

$179 for a Q9550 for a microcenter if you live near one

 

[dirtmountain]

PhenomII x2 550/ MA770T-UD3P AM3 motherboard/2x2 GB DDR3 RAM $238 and $6 shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.206908

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392

BUT, you're right at the budget mark that another $30 or $40 would give you a good increase in CPU and/or motherboard. With several of the deals on newegg right now you can get a Phenomx3 or x4 and a 790GX or 780G motherboard for just a little bit more.