Mighty Whitey

been looking around at different posts on all kinds of forums, and I'm trying to determine what the most desirable year common rail 5.9 is?

I know '03 and early '04 weren't as powerful as the '04.5-up, but is there anything different as far as the actually hardware on the motor? or is it all in the tuning?

it all boils down to the fact, that what ever truck I got, I'd like to find a 6spd (dodge+automatic= horrible track record) and I would probably just buy an air intake, 4" turbo back exhaust, the in-tank lift pump conversion, and a diablo sport tuner, and leave it alone for the remainder of its 350k mile life. so is there any reason to buy one year over another if this is all I'm gonna do?

I'm kinda digging the looks of the '06-up, but my wallet's not really digging the price tag on something that new yet.

thanks, rob.