the nforce4 chipset is better, but better only
and moreover when u r goin for a budget board then u need to look at ur needs and the external features offered by the board rather than the chipset !!!!
coz u indicate goin for an external GFX card
i suggest goin for ASUS a8n-e
its got evrythin except the onboard graphics
and for the GFX card for 3.5k
i suggest the XFX geforce 6200 ( 256mb - PCIE)