Seeking CPU Suggestions for Upgrade to My P4 Machine

[txstars15]

Hello,
I'm wanting to upgrade for general performance and speed improvements, particularly speed when surfing the web and opening windows or following links. Gameplay is a more minor interest for me.

I was considering the Intel Core 2 Duo chip family or the AMD x64 series, but am not knowledgeable enough on which way to go. I know that the Core 2 series is much more efficient than the older P4's, so CPU speed is not the absolute, end-all factor for speed (or is it?).

What is the current thinking on upgrading with these options? Thanks for your inputs.

[Cobracon]

1st, I'd like to thank you for registering so we can refer to you as something other than 'guest'. At some point they'll have to pick a number to differentiate between themselves.

What motherboard do you have that will be getting the CPU upgrade, or did I misunderstand your post?? Maybe you are considering a new board/CPU/RAM??