Upgradability for e5200 vs. Regor 245

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Feb 2010 BUDGET RANGE: $300 Before Rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming (Bad Company 2, Terra Online), iTunes, internet, movies

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, hard drive, case, PS)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com, Tiger Direct

PARTS PREFERENCES: e5200 vs. Regor 245

OVERCLOCKING: Yes SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: quiet would be nice.

Hello Everyone,
So I’m looking at building a new PC (as my old rig died). Thing is, like most everyone else I’m broke. What I can afford is to spend an initial $300 on the MB, CPU, memory & GPU. I’d like your opinions on whether to go e5200 or Regor 245 with a future upgrade path in mind. Initially I assumed the Regor due to the AM3 socket, but an AM3 socket MB would mean expensive DDR3 which could push me over budget. Is it worth it to purchase an AM2/AM3 MB and use slightly cheaper DDR2? Also I’ve read that an overclocked e5200 & G31 chipset are somewhat at the end of it’s lifespan. Is it worthwhile to invest in a slightly more expensive MB that I could eventually drop a quad core in? The main point here is upgradeability. I’m happy to start of w/ 2GB RAM knowing that I could purchase another stick the following month. As with the video card, I just want something that can handle games decently but knowing that eventually I’ll drop the cash on a >$100 GPU.

So what would your build opinion be?

I greatly appreciate all build advice and thank you for your time.