kuligs2 I'm not opposed to amd at all. I've been thinking of going that route because it seems more budget friendly. What cpu would you recommend?
Planning my first PC build.
Jdellis6656 I have a better question, should I go with am4 socket? Or try to get into something with am5 so I have future upgrade paths?
kuligs2 i guess custom motherboard.. vp4650.
Ah, so it's a custom motherboard — there could (should) be problems with it. But I have a feeling that if you had gotten a Crucial, you might have avoided problems.
kuligs2 If youre smart then build it yourself.
Jdellis6656 I also have friends I can get to supervise me so I don't screw it up.
It doesn't depend much on smarts — luck is more important. Faults happen with all manufacturers and there is a non-zero probability of stumbling upon them.
trizZzle One option is to look at prebuild computers from a dealer
Our dealers cram the cheapest components into such assemblies.
Jdellis6656 What cpu would you recommend?
I have never taken AMD and don't plan to in the foreseeable future.
Tomcat I have never taken AMD and don't plan to in the foreseeable future.
I have never had an intel and don't plan on the foreseeable future
every time I had to open an intel machine I remember having a bad experience removing the cooler. intel also has a reputation for overheating, being not as performant for a higher price, bad drivers, vulnerabilities and making bad GPUs. I don't know about today, but they have a bad history.
Jesusemora every time I had to open an intel machine I remember having a bad experience removing the cooler.
What could it possibly be? I quickly switched to custom coolers and had no problems.
intel also has a reputation for overheating, being not as performant for a higher price, bad drivers, vulnerabilities <…>. I don't know about today, but they have a bad history.
The same can be said for AMD 
making bad GPUs
Intel's GPU is a misunderstanding, yeah. But they are not designed for serious work. I use NVidia.
Tomcat Even with the 13th and 14th gen issues?
- Edited
Jdellis6656 Even with the 13th and 14th gen issues?
And I've already moved to Xeon. Besides, they are cooler (in terms of temperature). 
I have a hard time with this language sometimes.
It's a situation that needs to be studied. It seems that only the topmost processors in the line have problems, though.
just the highest i9-series chips
and it seems that the necessary changes have been released and the problem is apparently already solved. But I think it's better to wait a bit and new processors will be released.
Intel Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake CPUs are unaffected by crashing issues
Intel will announce Lunar Lake in September, while we still don't have an official date for Arrow Lake. However, rumors point to October 17.
By the way, it's much better from an upgrade point of view.
Tomcat what would you recommend for an intel cpu in my budget range?
Tomcat I can pick up a Intel Core i9-12900K 3.2 GHz 16-Core Processor for under 300 USD right now. or should i look for something else?
Tomcat a Intel Xeon Platinum 8160 SR3B0 24-Core / 48 Threads 2.10GHz (3.70 GHz Turbo) 33MB L3 Cache LGA3647 Processor - (Renewed) is $252.00 USD
Jdellis6656 a Intel Xeon Platinum 8160 SR3B0 24-Core / 48 Threads 2.10GHz (3.70 GHz Turbo) 33MB L3 Cache LGA3647 Processor - (Renewed) is $252.00 USD
That's a very strange price. Is there something wrong with him?
I could take it just for the fun of it, but… how much is the motherboard for it?
- Xeon should not be recommended at all. Only those who know exactly why and what they need it for should take it.
- If you take our case, you should take Xeon-W (workstation) rather than a server variant.
- Xeon is very different from home processors. With home processors, everything is clear: the more expensive, the better — more cores and frequency. Xeon is not like that. Note that the Base Frequency of expensive processors is reduced. Maximum frequency stays at the same level, but this is a new technology — older CPUs don't have it. Many cores and threads can only use a very limited number of specific programs — mostly server software. I think that in our case it is more advantageous to have fewer cores of higher frequency. At the same time it is much cheaper.
- Components for this platform are usually noticeably more expensive.
what would you recommend for an intel cpu in my budget range?
I would suggest waiting for the announcement of Arrow Lake (less than a month left), see the reaction to it and then decide.
But from my experience, it's better to ask those who will help you build it. Unfortunately I don't have the opportunity to come to build it personally. 
Tomcat i appreciate the thought. haha my friend who is helping me is saying stay away from intel.