upgrading system for around $800

[jmk13]

I'm looking to upgrade my current system. Currently i have

Aspire 500 watt psu
Aspire xnavigator case (don't reccomend btw)
athlon barton 2500
evga 6800 vanilla
gig of corsair value select ram
19" viewsonic crt
2 hds and 1 dvd drive/burner

All suggestions welcomed, thanks in advance

 

[unbiased4u]

firstly, what are you using it for? Is it a gaming machine? What do you do most of the time on that?

What are you looking for in your system? Do you want good overclock or just a decent all around system?

Well, I suggest you wait for Conroe, if possible, although it seems to be coming out late this year. If not, well get socket AM2 for the upgrade path.
Do you need a good upgrade path? Or do you want to reuse that graphics card?

First you need to tell us your needs

 

[jmk13]

firstly, what are you using it for? Is it a gaming machine? What do you do most of the time on that?

What are you looking for in your system? Do you want good overclock or just a decent all around system?

Well, I suggest you wait for Conroe, if possible, although it seems to be coming out late this year. If not, well get socket AM2 for the upgrade path.
Do you need a good upgrade path? Or do you want to reuse that graphics card?

First you need to tell us your needs

Yes its a gaming machine. I thought you'd assume that from the gpu and case. I also run mce with a tv tuner. Since i'm upgrading with 800 dollars I don't plan on keeping my current graphics card.

 

[wun911]

7900GT
Asus P5WD2 Premium
P4 950
Crosair XMS2 (2x1Gb)

More like 1000 dollars worth of PC

 

[unbiased4u]

Do you need this system right now? Your system is still very good. What games do you want to play?

You could just wait for Conroe, you will get a very good system for $800 that will outperform current $1000 machines if not better (probably)

Actually I have around the same money as you! $750....and I decided to wait

 

[asgallant]

Do you have a preference for Intel or AMD?

If you want Intel, its best to either wait for conroe to come out, or grab a conroe compatible MB now, and plug a cheap CPU in it until conroe comes out.

If you want AMD, socket AM2 offers the greater upgrade potential (vs 939's non-existant upgrade potential), but 939 offers the more mature chipsets and MB's, so you probably won't encounter any hardware issues with a 939 system. If you want a single core CPU, go ahead and buy now, AMD just cut their prices on the single core lineup. If you want dual core, either wait for the price cut on those (~July 24th IIRC), or buy a cheap single core and upgrade when the duals' prices come down.

No matter what course you take, you will have to upgrade CPU, MB, GPU, and ram (unless it is DDR400, which I seem to recall was not supported by the 2500 XP's), maybe even you PSU, depending on whether it is new enough to support modern processors.

In any event, you can build a decent gaming rig from scratch for under $800, if you are prepared to get down and dirty searching for the lowest prices.

For example (just shopping at ZipZoomFly):
AMD socket AM2

Athlon 64 3800............................$149.00
Asus M2N-E nForce 570...............$109.99
GeIL 1 GB DDR2-800 (4-4-4-12)...$119.99
EVGA 7600 GT CO........................$175.50
Seagate ST3250824AS 250GB.....$88.99
NEC ND-4750A.............................$44.99
Coolmax CV-850..........................$19.99
Enermax Liberty 400W................$75.75

Total............................................$784.20

This is assuming that you keep your monitor, keyboard, and mouse. You can also likely find some of these components cheaper at other retailers, but you'll also pay shipping for them (ZZF ships free).