best bang for the buck pc parts

You need to start that journey by selecting an appropriate CPU first.

haha - that's you input?

Asus has a selector where you can define what you want the board to support. For example you can select AMD or Intel CPU sockets, the number of m.2 sockets (for NVMe SSD's), the type of Video output (HDMI, DVI, DP, VGA etc.), the number of memory slots (I'd probably always take 4 rather than 2, then you can easily add more RAM when needed), etc. etc. DDR4 RAM can already come at a size of 32GB, so 32 GB is not a problem. You can also see which CPU's & RAM it supports.

Once you have decided on the AMD or Intel, you get a list of boards, note their model numbers, then search for shops in your vicinity that sell them, they will then show you the Price. As an example I prefer AMD and found this one, & the shop is close to me where I live in Switzerland:

https://www.digitec.ch/de/s1/product/asus-prime-b550-plus-am4-amd-b550-atx-mainboard-13348833

Then you can probably also look on the same site which socket AM4 CPU's they sell & have at stock. there you should then also see their specs (speed, number of cores etc.) & based on that which one you would want. The same place probably also sells DDR4 RAM & NVMe's...

Sure, why not?

Anything else would be bad advice, cause CPU prices are in a range of approximatly 100€ to 12k€. So I cannot tell what you are looking for..

rindi - i know the Asus pages fairly well, but my Q is about the "best bang for the buck"
i can add that i have used mostly intel cpu's - but if AMD has better ones, i'm open for them
stefan - that is really no input to my Q.

i am astonished by this lack of reaction - in the past such a Q came up with many possible results, from which i had a nice choice

I prefer AMD because they are often more innovative than intel. For example, they introduced intel compatible x64 CPU's that were backward compatible with intel's x32 bit CPU's (that's why it is called "Amd64"), even when you are using an intel 64 bit CPU. They introduced multicore intel compatible CPU's before intel did. They also integrated GPU's into the CPU before intel did. They are also more flexible when it comes to multi-core CPU's. If for example they build a 4 core CPU, & Quality control finds that one of the cores doesn't reach the defined criteria, they disable that core & sell it as a triple Core at a lower price instead. This reduces waste & therefore helps our environment & resources. Intel would just dispose of it.

Also, the GPU built into the CPU's are considered to be more powerful than those built into intel CPU's, as they are based on Radeon technology, which has always been one of the top two GPU systems, the other being nVidia. Of course those still aren't as good as standalone GPU's, but for most normal tasks they do fine.
Last but not least, when compared with intel CPU's in the same class, they are usually less expensive. That would give you the asked for "more bang for the buck".

Personally I don't do everything online, but prefer walking into a shop where I can look at things & pay cash. Or an alternative is the shop I linked to above, with them you can look what they have in stock online, order it, then when it is in the shop I go there & pick it up, paying cash. As I'm not in Belgium, I don't know the situation there, but I'm sure you have similar shops located close to you where you can order online & pick it up yourself.

The other alternative for me is an auction site, similar to eBay, but it is a Swiss site. Through that I usually get used hardware, making sure before I make a bid that the seller isn't located too far from me & that I can pick the hardware up myself. I have been able to acquire quite a number of good hardware for very low prices that way, sometimes it is also un-used. But of course it takes more time, as it usually takes 1-2 weeks until the bidding window expires. Also, you have to wait until a product is put for sale that matches your requirements. Maybe you also have similar sites in Belgium. Of course you can also always use eBay.

good info Rindi
>>  Personally I don't do everything online, but prefer walking into a shop where I can look at things & pay cash.    <<  so am i - if possible

If you want to touch and feel, Microcenter stores have the best prices and largest selection around here. Their website is also very good, you can find your stuff and reserve it for in store pickup (avoids the checkout lines).  Depending 

Online for new parts Newegg is usually the one to beat.  They have good navigation options in terms of part specs etc..  Amazon is good,if you need parts quickly and know what you want, but its really hard to search and navigate for component parts.  Every time  I search Amazon, I get different results, then trying to get back to an item I thought was best can be really tricky.  And then of course there is eBay.  New parts are available on eBay but (as with Amazon) you need to read the description carefully.  eBay does offer in their search options to only report new items.  Be sure to also check U.S. only, otherwise you can wind up with China or other source countries, that may extend shipping times.  

as said in my Q - belgium netherlands - so no microcenter
i have a good selling point, i just want to know what is the best board/cpu  combi  for the best price so no online selling

Sorry, I missed that.  And as much as I have seen you on here, you would think I knew you were not in the U.S.

The nice thing about current AMD CPUs, is they all work with the same socket (AM4).  With AMD mobos its the chipset that matters.  The current champ is the X570, but they are expensive.   But that  will change next year  See:  https://www.pcmag.com/news/new-amd-cpu-socket-with-next-gen-ryzen-chip-coming-in-2022

If you want to save some money, consider a B550 motherboard, which has PCIe 4.0 support, with enough lanes for one fast SSD and graphics card at  high speed.  Some B550 mobos can get close to the price of X570 alternatives.  The price differences depend on the features.  If your not gaming and only need a single Graphics card, don't opt for a mobo with 2 3 or 4 PCIe16 gangable slots.  Similarly, you may not need features like on board WiFi.  The fewer the mobo features the cheaper the card.   One feature I think is important is USB 3.1 support.    B450 chipset mobos are cheaper, but don't support the higher end SSDs (no PCIe 4.0 support) and have lower bandwidths.  

Don't overlook Intel.  Their Intel Core i5-12600KF  CPU is a real barn burner for a good price.  I'm not up to speed on their mobo options, but sites like Newegg and Microcenter will help you match Mobos to CPUs.  I know, you can't buy from them, but their sites are great for researching models and pricing

One good resource for CPU, Graphics and other bench marks and costs is Passmark

See: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_value_available.html#single-value
 

fred - that is good info , can you suggest a couple of these boards - cheap / expensive? + the same for their cpu ?

One thing I should mention.  The resulting products though pretty extensive, are limited to what they carry or have carried in the past.  It shows both in stock and out of stock stuff.  Thats where another site with good  refinements may be helpful.  I use NewEgg as a backup.  Their refinment capabilities are not quite as good as MicroCenter's. but better than most other sites and their inventory might carry an item anothe site does not.  .  

The BIG GOTCHA in all this, is you can spend a lot of time looking for the best solutions only to find the products you want are simply not available anywhere due to the supply issues.  Its especially true for Graphics cards and mother boards -- especially those with best performance.  

I've had that happen many times in the past 12-18 months.  For example most high end Nvidia cards, just are not available and when a shipment arrives, it gets sold out quickly.  They generally have a huge markup (2x, 3x even 4x) online at places like Amazon and eBay.  And you really have to watch out for scams on those products.  I saw eBay listings to an Nvidia 3050 at list price (a bargain), that when your read the description says your buying a picture of it.  Or others selling refurbished, where its not obvious its refurbed unless you read carefully.  

  .

ok thanks for the info

not exact what i'm after, but i got something