I’m looking a upgrading my pc’s video card then at a later date updating my cpu.
This is what I have now:

7600Gt EVGA

AMD 3800+ (single core)

2gb Mushkin DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) ram

Enermax Liberty 500w PSU

Asus M2N-E AM2 Motherboard

Now I plan on updating my card to an 8800gt but I’ll still have the 3800+ (single core) for at least a couple months.

This update is in time for the new Age of Conan game coming out soon. So how bad do you think my cpu will hold back my 8800gt? Also is the 8800gt the best I’ll get for &175(+/-)?

Thanks for any advice.

Get a Athlon 4200 + It's very cheap now and it should give you a performance bump.

How bad do you think that cpu will hold me back?

Another person who has been reading too much "bottlenecking" nonsense.
The 3800 single core you have now would be considered a low end match for an 8800GT, but you would still see a whopping difference over the 7600 you have now.
An 8800GT is great match for a 4200+ however if you can afford a faster processor, a 5000+ can be had for $90 at Newegg.
Yeah, for around $175, the 8800GT is about the best you buy.

I'd say aim higher than the 4200, for the future as well! Phenoms are now fixed with the 50 series revision (9650 and 9850 and 9950 etc). NO MORE TLB issues!

It'll work fine. The 8800 won't be running at its best, but you will see a huge improvement. If you are concerned about a bottleneck, AM2 chips are dirt cheap right now (and may get even cheaper tomorrow if the mythical price drop occurs). Grab a chip like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103242

or this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103194

and rest soundly knowing you have a nice and balanced system.

Yeah, for AM2 you have such good options I'd also say grab a cheap X2. Be thankful as S939 owners have to spend twice as much and search for an X2.

You may want to wait on a GPU as the game is a month away right? Your system currently meets the minimum specs. While the recommended specs are quite beastly. I suspect single core CPU's won't do well in it, but that's just my $0.02.

Yeah it's about a month away.

I'll pick up a 8800gt or 9600gt this month and get a 5000+ x2 Black Edition...only $89.00 at Newegg next month.

go for at least x2 5000+ with 8800 card ,this is optimum for this card if you stick with the curent cpu you will have small benefits with this card and it will perform a little beter or same like 8600gts on your curent cpu.
8800 cards are very hungry for cpu power,best cpu's for this cards are
E6850.E8400,Q6600 and Q9450 or a low entry c2d overclock it and you will have even beter or same performance like lets say E6850 depend of oc,
but if you wish to keep your mobo go for x2 5000 or better and you are set for gaming.