Significant Rig Upgrade Question

Hi all! I currently have an AMD FX53 processor 3 Gigs of DDR paired memory, a 6800 ultra AGP card, and a 500 watt power supply. The obvious weak link is the 6800 ultra which just can't keep up in games like fear or oblivion. I'd like to upgrade and have been researching. My budget is around 1200 +/-. Obviously I need a new Mother Board, a Graphics Card and maybe a new power supply. I have a decent 17" LCD that I will not be replacing. This monitor gets a max of 1280x1024. I want to not have to upgrade again for another 2.5 years (or be poised for a minor upgrade). My options are:

1) ASUS A8N 32SLI Deluxe
Nvidia 7950
OCZ 600 ADJ SLI Power Supply

2) Same MB and power supply
SLI 7900 GTX

3) Same
SLI 7900 GT

4) Wait for DirectX10 Cards

Or should I not even waste my money and just buy a single card GT or GTX and plan on putting another in later (Keeping in mind my max resolution is 1280x1024). I do want to keep high frame rates and settings into the future. I'd like some honest advice and critiques (if you hate the MB or PS). I reside in the Nvidia camp so unless you really feel strongly for the X1900 lets keep it to these cards. I will also, most likely, not go quad in the future. Thanks for your help this community is very informative!

Try playing with 2gb of RAM, that might actually increase performane.

6800Ultra is still a good card, but you can upgrade it. Something like 7900GT or X1800XT would do the job. 7950 isn't really worth it since you'll have to upgrade it anyway later this year/early next year. 7900GT/X1800XT will take you there with ease.

Yeah the 6800 still works for alot of games such as DDO and WOW. But it can be downright painful with Fear and Oblivion at 1280x1024 with settings turned up.

I also plan on changing my raptors from a raid 1 to 0 to improve load times and hopefully in-game texture loads.

As I posted earlier I didn't see a significant change betwean 2 and 3 gigs in framerate tests.

What do you mean I'd need to upgrade the 7950? It's just out and top of the line? Also, would you not even consider the 7900 GTX?

Thanks for you comments they are helping out!

I personally think that your set up is good enough for now... wait for dx10 and vista and conroe and am2 to become more stable. I'd say if you can wait for 3-5 months do that.

I know that computers are always advancing but this isn't like a jump from 5200 to 7800 that some may have made last year. For some reason everything is coming up on next gen all at the same time and I'd wait.

7950 is basically two 7900GT chips on one PCI-E board. There is no new technologies added. It's not worth it since a 7900GT for less that $300US will last until you need to get a DX10 card. At high resolutions SLI and 7950 can bring real benefits.

7900GTX is a good card also, it's better than the 7900GT. It depends on what resolutions you play at.