Experiences with processors

im looking to build a new machine, but deciding between AMD and Intel is a bit of a sticking point

with intel i'll be buying a p4pe base board,
with amd it'll be an nforce2 (hopefully rev 2.0)
either way itll be fitted with 512 corsair xms 3200

so, what processor should i buy? price is a limiting factor, id prefer not to spend too much,
so heres what im looking at (canadian dollars)

AMD
2500 Barton $207
2600 333mhz $249
2700 333mhz $294
2800 Barton $364

Intel
2.4B $259
2.53 $299
2.66 $369

so which'll give me the best price vs performance?
mostly i game, so the Barton 2500 looks pretty attractive

"Going to war without France is like going hunting without an accordion."
- Gen. (Ret) Norman Schwartzkopf

go with a 2500 barton on an nforce 2 mainboard, you can get the epox 8rdas cheap and they are fast and great overclockers. Many 2500s are great overclockers, with decent cooling you should manage 3000 speeds at least.

Treat your body like a $600 car. God didn't intend it to last so use it. Run it into the ground!

Overclocking isn't locked in the BIOS on the <A HREF="http://www.msicomputer.com/product/detail_spec/product_detail.asp?model=K7N2-L&search_text=6570" target="_new">MSI K7N2-L.</A> The FSB maxes out at 200 (at 1 MHz increments). The one problem (I don't OC) I see is it doesn't lock the PCI bus when you OC. I don't know if all boards are like this or not (again, I don't OC). Mine is super stable and a great performer, not to mention the price was great. The <A HREF="http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socketa/a7n8x-d/overview.htm" target="_new">ASUS A7N8X deluxe</A> has more features. ie Soundstorm, IEEE 1394, daul LAN, and SATA. (might be more, that was just a quick glance). So if you need all the features go with the ASUS, but if you aren't goin to use all the extra stuff save some money and get the MSI.

"Quotes are for people that can't think for themselves"