Advice on my upgrades?

[redsox]

hi guys about one year ago i built my 1st custom pc on a midrange budget intended for gaming. my current pc consists of:

Patriot PDC2G3200LLK 2GB Kit DDR400 PC3200

AMD Athlon™ 64 Processor 3700+, ~2.2GHz skt939

Abit KN8 SLI NF4 SLI Athlon 64(FX)/64 X2 Dual-Core Skt939 DDR ATX Motherboard w/Audio, Gigabit LAN, RAID/Serial ATA II

GeForce 7600GT KO 256MB

Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500 ATX12V 500W Power Supply


Antec Performance One P-160W Silver 1.2mm Anodized Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Logitech G5

Saitek PZ30AU Eclipse Keyboard (Blue).

160gb western digital hdd


Ive been looking and on a smaller budget this time came up with these parts to upgrade to. what do you think, (and do i need a new psu):

CORSAIR XMS2 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 Memory Kit TWIN2X4096-6400C5 Memory $125.00
https://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10007500

ASUS M2N-SLI AMD AM2 Socket AM2 2000 MHz PC2-6400 (DDR2-800) ATX Motherboard $99.98
https://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10007500

EVGA e-GeForce 8600 GTS Superclocked 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express Video Card w/Dual DVI $169.99
https://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=321212

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 4200+ Socket AM2 (65W) $78.90
https://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80725-9


**Also not being very knowledgeable about pc's i was wondering what the main differences there would be (that i would notice) in mobo chipsets (like a 500sli to a 570sli) and the differences in l2 cache in the cpu(this cpu has 2mb. is that better then 2x512 or 1mb and whats the difference between the different thermal Ws)

thanks for all and any advice
-red

 

[nvalhalla]

go with a gigabyte ds3l and intel e2160, same price better performance and upgrades. look around for a 3850 video card, twice as fast as the 8600 and costs the same! ram is good.

 

[nvalhalla]

psu should be fine too.

 

[paraffin]

go for a 8800GT anything less is pointless if you are buying now.. the 8600 and 3850 are nowhere near the 8800GT and they are not much more expensive!

Also go Intel, A good value Abit Mobo mobo and an E2160.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Another option is to keep your current motherboard and memory. Swap in this S939 Opteron 175 and graphics card. Within a few percentage points performance-wise of your proposed rig at a savings of ~$160 (no need for a new motherboard, or RAM)

-Wolf sends

 

[redsox]

why is the intel e2160 cpu better than the 4200? also if i were to upgrade to the 8800gt it would cost an extra $75. what would be the performance difference in the 2 cards be in running lets say cod4.

 

[Wolfshadw]

At stock speeds, the E2160 is not better than the 4200, but I understand it overclocks very easily. An overclocked E2160 will out perform the stock 4200.

-Wolf sends