The next year is going to be a mess. The 940 pin FX chips will be made and updated through the end of next year (they are rebadged 1xx opterons, btw). The 939 pin FX chips will be introduced in Q1-Q2 2004 (though I wouldn't hold my breath since they have yet to make any 90 nm chips at all) with DDR-II support and will be made on PCI-Express boards most likely (Q3-Q4), while PCI-Express cards will be a rare breed until around Q4. If you want to try to sort it out in the middle you can be my guest. DDR-II will NOT be a big improvement over the DDR-I now, and they are now manufacturing CAS2 registered ECC PC3200 (Corsair XMS) which will help the current Opterathlons immensely. When it comes time to upgrade in a year or so, you can always drop an Opteron on your board as a replacement if you are using a current FX.
My suggestion would be to bite on an FX chip in December when the yeilds and process is better (for overclocking) and the price is lower. Since you won't have PCI-Express, you can still use your AGP cards and you should have registered PC3200 memory at near unregistered prices. You will still pay a premium, but you will get good bang for your buck. I would not count on the 90nm chips coming out soon.
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