Conclusion:
Well, the results are in, and like most of you have known for a while, the 9800XT beats out the 5950 Ultra, under extreme circumstances. If you raise the AA and the AF to the limits, the 9800XT handles the extra load better. However, if you don't turn on these features at all, then this line seperating the two video cards becomes fuzzier. Depending on the software, either the 5950 Ultra or the 9800XT will be top gun.
Processor wise is the same thing. Depending on the software you are running, either the A64 3400+ or the P4 3.2GHz will reign champion. The margin of difference between the two is so slim in some instances that it doesn't really matter what you choose. In some tests, the P4 will spank some 3400+ butt, but in other cases, the 3400+ reigns supreme. Therefore, in the processor arena, this is still anybody's ball game. However, if you do look at it from a price/performance stand point, the P4 is obviously the better choice as it does cost a hefty $80 less than the A64. But if you are deciding to go 64-bit any time soon, you'd be hard pressed not to choose the 3400+.
The question that remains to be answered is: what works better with what? Well there's no doubt about this one people. The 9800XT will be your card of choice no matter what kind of system you're thinking of purchasing. You'll get better performance in general with this card, as well, have much better results when AA and AF are turned on. On top of that, you'll get the HL2 voucher, which will be good when Valve decides to release the game. ^_^
