Advice on component upgrades

[spitcher115]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: This week (Hopefully)

BUDGET RANGE: <$500.00 CAD

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: World of Warcraft, Diablo 3 (when released) and surfing the internet.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS (WIN XP), case (generic), power supply (NSpire NSP-450P4LF12), DVD drive and hard drive.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.ca, ncix.ca

PARTS PREFERENCES: no preference.

OVERCLOCKING: No

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1280x1024

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I am currently using an OLD AMD Athlon 3200+ with 1 GB RAM and an ATI x700 PRO (AGP) video card. This PC is 5 years old and I am hoping to upgrade the major components relatively cheaply so that I can play WoW and D3 as well as general web surfing and flash online games (for the younger kids). I would like to get a PC that will last another 4 or 5 years knowing that at most I play Wow and D3 when released.

The power supply that I have is 450w with 32A total on the 12V rails, here is a link. I need to upgrade the CPU, motherboard, video card and RAM. I am on a pretty tight budget and it's been a long time since I have investigated PC upgrades so any help that could be provided would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Helloworld_98]

I'd get a new PSU as well, I'd recommend corsair, antec and OCZ for your budget.

 

[jbakerlent]

I agree with helloworld about the PSU. Check this build out, it comes to about $500 before MIRs.

AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649

GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392

OCZ Flex EX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Enhanced Bandwidth Desktop
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227404

XFX HD-485X-YDFC Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150337

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

 

[hunter315]

For significantly more than newegg, they arent worth it.

Jbakerlent's build is unfortunately significantly more in canada so swap the ram out for this
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227320
and consider a 4830 for the graphics card, it wont max everything out but it should let you stay in budget while providing a massive increase over your old system

Dont forget to shop around and use NCIX for their price matching

 

[jbakerlent]

Good point, failed to notice the .ca

 

[Outlander_04]

AMD Phenom II X3 710 2.6GHz $118
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103648

GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 $100
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 $86
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231189

OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V $90.49 [ less $20 US dollar MIR]
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022

SAPPHIRE 100245HDMI Radeon HD 4850 512MB $102
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102824

So all the latest AM3 hardware from AMD with a good solid triple core processor , an good enough psu ad a gfx card that will be fine for your monitor

$496 ish less a $20 US rebate

and now that Ive looked I can tell you that the Canadian dollar might suck , but its not as bad as a Kiwi one

 

[dirtmountain]

Here's a list of a CPU, motherboard, RAM and a graphic card.

CPU - AMD PhenomII x3 710 $118 - alternate would be the x3 720
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103648

Motherboard - MSI AM3 770 - $90 uses DDR3 RAM, has PATA supports 2 - IDE devices.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130228

RAM - 2x1 GB DDR3 1333 7-7-7-18 $49 Since you're running XP32bit you'll be fine with 2GB. If you upgrade in the future to Vista or Win7 64 bit add 2x2 GB kit.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231178

Graphic card - BFG GTS 250 1GB - $149
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143191

under $410 total price not counting shipping.

WoW benchmarks - notice the GTS 250
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,689378/WoW-Wrath-of-the-Lich-King-Benchmarks-with-Ati-and-Nvidia-graphics-cards/Practice/

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/mainstream-cards-mmorpg_14.html#sect0

I don't like NSpire power supplies, they get very few, if any good reviews. You may want to change it out if you can afford it, but if it's been trouble free for you till now i doubt if it's going to cause problems.