well amd chips perform more efficiently than pentiums, if i was buying a chip now, i'd be going the amd 64bit route

this has a nice chart for you to look at, shows you the difference between the various types of chips, and the future ones planned for this year and next
I would have to agree. Even though the AMD's state that they have a slower clockspeed, upon benchmark, they really aren't much differant than the P4's.

Not to meantion that they handle many jobs with mulitmedia more efficiantly as well.

I'd say best bang for the buck with no doubt is the AMD64.