The main P4 chipset by Intel is the i850. It uses RAMBUS memory, which is higher performance than DDR.
* RAMBUS is also Cheaper than DDR at this time.
The catch is, that the i850 chipset is SINGLE CPU only.
So, if I was going to build the Best SINGLE Processor P4 I could, I would certainly use RAMBUS (for sure).
The Intel chipset is more reliable than any VIA P4 chipset, and the RAMBUS RAM is higher performance (3.2 GB/s bandwidth)and cheaper.
The INTEL Chipset for DDR is i845D. PC2100 DDR RAM is a peak bandwidth of 2.1GB/s. Less bandwidth, more money.
NEITHER SUPPRT DUAL PROCESSORS
Next: Intel 860 chipset
* Dual Xeon 1.5-2.2GHz+ *
Believe me, you can't afford it.
> You ask about cost on the chipset. Well, the i845D is cheaper by a little,
* but the major factor in this is the price of the mainboard. Those vary in price for the i850 & i845D from about $70 for junk, up to $165 for a premium quality mainboard for the i850 made by INTEL or ASUS.
I hope this answers some of your questions.
You can always check
for the latest prices and places to buy.
Or, you can also check,
for parts.