Upgrade Time, need some advice...

[freythman]

My current system is getting a little sluggish. I'm running an Athlon XP 3200+, 1gb PC3200 ram, and a Geforce 7800 GS 256mb AGP. I'm ready for an upgrade and a plunge into the dual core/PCI-e world. My budget is about $700. All I'll need is: Motherboard, CPU, PSU, Memory, and Graphics card. Here are my current thoughts. Let me know what you guys think.

Mobo: MSI 975X Platinum V.2 ~$164
CPU: Intel Core2 Duo E6300 ~$185
Memory: OCZ Gold 1GB DDR2 (PC2 6400) 5-5-5-12 Timings ~$100
Graphics: EVGA GeForce 7900GS 256MB PCI-e ~150
PSU: Antec NeoHE 500w (think I may can get from $50 to $75 from a friend, if not a similar one or a little more powerful)

Estimated Total: $649-674

Here is my main concern: I want a motherboard that will last me a while. As you can tell, I've made my current board (Abit AN7) last a while (~3 years?). It withstood a few processor, memory, and graphic card updates, and has reached the end of its upgrade path. Is there another board in this price range that would be better?

My other concern is making sure my PSU will be upgrade proof. My current PSU doesn't have the 20+4 connector or PCI-e.

Also, should I hold out just a little longer for the Geforce 8600gs?

Let me know your thoughts.

-Matt

 

[CmdPT]

Everything you picked seem to be good enough.

As for the motherboard theres alot of people picking GA-965P-DS3 as it is a very good board and it is good for OCing.

The PSU I would pick the OCZ 600W GameXtreme its cheap and upgrade proof, for sure this would last you for a while.

Where are you getting all of these parts from? Newegg? NCIX?

 

[akhilles]

^^^ totally. That psu is 8800gtx-ready.

I'd pick this board & save some money:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128012

$100 for Cas5 is a bit too steep. For a little less, but faster timings:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227082

Or even better:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144027

Buy a tad bit more expensive but WAY faster video with the saving:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?N=2010380048&Submit=ENE&Subcategory=48&Description=X1950PRO&Ntk=all

 

[freythman]

Sounds like some good suggestions. Thanks for the advice. I'm going Newegg all the way. I've worked with other companies, and even though I sometimes find cheaper prices, I NEVER find service as good as Newegg.