I just found out my host is one of the bad guys (communitech.net), so I'm looking for alternatives. They are trying to shut me down for excessive CPU usage on my cgi message board. I had been with them a year under their "unlimited" bandwidth plan, but I was a novice and didn't know what to expect.

Currently, I'm at 150mbs and 15 gigs a month. So to be safe, I'd probably want a host with 300mbs and 40 gigs a month. Do I need to go dedicated? I definitely want Mysql/php as well. I see that catalog.com installs this on their dedicated servers which is something I might like as well.

So I'm looking for a host that is message board/php/mysql friendly.

Thanks for any advice

Maybe you should move this thread to the Advertising forum so any interested host can answer. Generally, if you would need 40 GB bandwidth I suggest going dedicated.
What board are you using now? If it's something like UBB maybe you should look into converting this to vBulletin which uses less CPU cycles. There are also some tricks to reduce bandwidth with compression.

You may look for a host who can provide you more bandwidth (and made sure they will not cancell your account for excessive CPU usage - go through their terms and regulations )

Or get a dedicated RAQ (start from $99 + bandwidth usage)

Or a Unix box (start from $200)

:)