Processor and Motherboard

I would suggest this CPU for just $10 more...It is 2-Generations ahead in archietecture and has a total 7MB cache, and is a very good CPU...
AMD Phenom II X2 545 Callisto
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Mobo - That is a very good mobo...
But this combo with the above CPU is better...
1. AMD Phenom II X2 545 Callisto 3.0GHz 2. GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

But I would suggest you wait till September 8th as intel will be launching newer CPUs and so will AMD...So that should even further push the prices down...

Will this heatsink handle it well? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMQcnpbBlEo&eurl=http%3A...

Right now I have this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... but I'm not sure if it will work on that motherboard.

If I follow through with this, will I see vast improvement?

^ If you are not going to overclock, I dont think you would need a after market CPU cooler...the stock cooler is suffice...
And maybe you can reuse that same CPU cooler if you can see if you are getting any retention bracket for AM2 socket...

Exactly, I was about to spend $500 on these things when someone told me "Dude, you're stupid. If you aren't going to overclock, why buy the expensive ware?"

And I was like. "..... oh, you're right."

I had another set up, which was this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

That alone is over 75% of the price for the ones you mentioned.

You mentioned I should wait a few days for a possible price cut. If there is to be a price cut, how much do you suspect will be deducted?

^ Well it is hard to say how much...but am sure there will be...And anyways the component prices always go down...So am sure you will get a good deal...

And as for that CPU and mobo, the X3 720 is a very good CPU but is even better if overclocked...
And as for that mobo, its AM3 and supports only DDR3 RAM and not the DDR2 that you have listed...

If you could spend say upto $250 for CPU + mobo, then I would suggest you look into Quad-core CPUs as they would last longer...

When you say "last longer" are you saying a quad core has a longer life expectancy or that future multithreaded apps will favor a quad core over a triple core? I have a feeling that you meant the latter. Do you really think that will make much of a difference in the next 3 years?

AFAIK, the only boards I've seen that do ddr2 and ddr3 are jetway mobos. But that is what I would likely get right now, if I had more confidence in that brand. But ddr2 is the smarter buy, unless you are overclocking.

But GK is correct, the current market will be depressed by the new tech coming out. I would wait a week to see how everything shakes out. How much? I dunno, but I would expect a drop of about $10-15 on processors, at least on the higher end. Less for the inexpensive processors, maybe 10% of total price. Motherboards maybe 5-10. But I would definitely wait a week.

Alright, thank you buzznut and gkay09.

@buzznut - Yup I meant the latter...