Budget Upgrade

Long time lurker, first time poster. Forgive the many newbie errors I will make.

Anyways, this is built with casual gaming, video editing, Photoshopping, multitasking in mind. I'm looking to hopefully continue using my monitor, keyboard, mouse, hard drive and DVD drive. So all I have to worry about is the main components.

I'm looking to use this build for another 2-4 years, and I'll probably scrap most of these parts for better ones [yay for technology!]. I want to keep this upgrade under $500. At the moment, I don't think I would be interested in overclocking or SLI technology.

Here's my build (v1), and the general prices:
[$80] AMD Athlon 64 x2 4800+
[$70] Asus M2A-VM DDR2 800 -OR- [60] Asus M2N-MX SE Plus DDR2 1066
[$30] OCZ 2GB DDR2 RAM
[$50] Acom 17" ATX Case + 450W PSU
[$80] XFX GeForce 8600GT XXX
[$40] Taxes
[$340/350] Total

Now the two things that I am not sure of is:
1) The M2A-VM vs the M2N-MX SE Plus or if you have a better one to recommend.
2) Whether I should stick with the stock fan, or to buy a better one.

Thanks for reading my lengthy lengthy post heh, and please post your thoughts.

You won't find an 8800 gs here in Canada for under 140 after rebates, 160 before. Memoryexpress.com has the g80 8800 gts 320mb for 125 after rebate. If you're on a tight budget I feel that'd be best. I'd be a little sketchy on the psu as well. $50 for a case and psu is pretty damn cheap.

Recoomend some changes to that list:

Motherboard: Asus M3A78-EMH - much better board currently listing at Canada computer for 96. Its an AM2+ board with a much better chipset than your selection, which is an AM2 board.
Memory - standard DDR2 667 or 800 - minmal performance difference in real world.
Case: whatever works for you, but get a decent power supply, not that thing. Suggest something like this http://www.canadacomputers.com/ind [...] cid=CS.664
Video Card: HD3650 512MB DDR3 $90

Note for ohiou_grad_06 - newegg.com only ships to the US, no point in recommending them for a Canadian poster, and I wouldn't recommend TigerDirect to anyone unless I was really pissed at them.

Hmm, the Radeon HD 3650 does look interesting. But just to clarify, if I focus more on gaming, then I should go with the 8800GS? I always had the assumption the Radeons were more for multimedia-focused people?

About the motherboard, I have heard good things from the 690g chipset, so I am not that convinced I should spend more for the M3A.

I will look into a better PSU. Would it be a good idea to buy a case and PSU seperately? The only concern I have is that the PSU will not fit.

Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts. Giving me more to think about heh.

Edit: Btw, how does the HD 2600 XT differ from the 3650? I hear they are relatively similar, but the 3650 is newer, so...?

ohiou - I'm just not a fan of MIRs in general, so it's not just TigerDirect.

The only real issue I have with TigerDirect is their shipping and taxes fees. Really kills the deal imo.

Back on track, how is the THERMALTAKE VG1430BNS WING RS 100 CASE THERMALTAKE VG1430BNS WING RS 100 CASE? ThermalTake appears to be a good brand name, maybe not as good as Antec?