Looking to upgrade my system $1,000

[polorsport]

OK, I was looking to either upgrade my system or start from scratch. I'd like to keep my budget around $1,000 - $1,500. I'm looking for a pc to do some gaming. Mostly into Everquest II and World of Warcraft. Here is what I currently have. Otherwise using it to browse the web and run some basic applications. Here is what I currently have available to me.

Amd Athlon XP processor
LG Dvd Burner 16X10X40
Case with 450 watts max
Geforce 7600 graphics cards
ATI Rage 128 ultra graphics cards
MSI motherboard
A Data Memory expert 1gb
Westinghouse 16"

I'm looking for some advice and am open to suggestions. You guys helped me out last year, now I'm looking to help someone else.

 

[gators1223]

for wow almost anything will work but i think it would be easier to start from scratch for you, you might be able to salvage the case but thats about it

Intel Q6600 yes it is overkill but at some point in the future you will want more power
Gigabyte p43 board
9800gt graphics card will do wow just fine
2x2gb ddr2 800 ram
Corsair 550VX
maybe a bigger monitor 22in can be had for under $200

 

[kurtyboh]

i would suggest upping the mobo to a p45...and ditching the 9800gt, better performance for the same price using a 4850. the upgrade of a mobo with a p45 vs p43 is about 10 bucks and coupling that witha 4850 will allow you to run crossfire in the future, if you ever decide to play something more graphically intense. The proc gators chose will be a good one especially if your running lots of online games as it allows more tasks simultaneously.
id say asus p5q pro, but deluxe if you want to overclock
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299
mushkin ram http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731
gpu like this saphire. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770
an antc neopower modular psu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371010
that'll still leave plenty of room for nice monitor (with hdcp cap. if you ever plan on getting blu-ray) and even a nice case if you want...

 

[3lvis]

P5Q Pro and E8400 newegg combo deal for $250.

Mushkin DDR2-800 4GB $38
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146731

WD 640 $75

Antec 300 case. Well built, cool and about the same size as the 900 case. $54

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] ntec%20300

MSI 4850 (best cooler and after sale support) $160

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127370

Best value---Acer X223Wbd 22" Widescreen - $165

Corsair 750 watt PSU $99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139006

HP retail DVD burner with lightscribe and Nero 7: $28

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827140027

Windows Vista 64 Premium: $99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827140027

Total before rebates: $1040.86 after rebates $968.86

 

[slomo4sho]

I would actually take a different approach on with this since your gaming will not be very graphic intensive:

CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Chan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184

MSI KA780G AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI
bundled with
AMD Athlon X2 4850e 2.5GHz
http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/AddToCart.aspx?Submit=ADD&ItemList=Combo.136134

Acer P243WAid Black-Silver 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009125

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ600MXSP 600W PSU bundled with Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB
http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/AddToCart.aspx?Submit=ADD&ItemList=Combo.142961

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with Nero 7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106264

SAPPHIRE 100245L Radeon HD 4850 512MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488

Total = $974.42 - $80 MIR = $894.62

You can recycle your case but if you want a new case go with:
Antec Three Hundred
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042&Tpk=antec%20300

or a

COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-SKN2-GP
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119104

Either way, the cost will be an additional $50-55 if you do decide to add case.

Edit: They seemed to have removed the $30 instant savings off the Corsair ram. Go with this instead:
mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146692
This change adds an additional $15 to the build

 

[kurtyboh]

i noticed that with the ram this morning and was like what happened to the price????

 

[polorsport]

Thank you all for your suggestion. I'm going to run it by my friend later on today.