Advice on a 500 gaming build excluding a video card

[jjb8675309]

Hi can someone give me some mock ups on a ballpark 500 dollar gaming build excluding the video card(s). I would prefer a potential crossfire/sli setup so a good motherboard and psu are probably the top priorities along with a case that can fit two cards, as well as a processor and ram that can properly drive the setup all while keeping a slim budget in mind this could be tough, but there are a lot of packages and mail in rebates going around so please post your best results, the video card that Iwill be purchasing to go along with this rig will be of 5850 level or higher, unless of course a cheaper, faster sli/crossfire configuration can be achieved. DX11 means very little to me right now and I am more concerned with getting a proper motherboard/psu with the potential to upgrade the video card(s) in the future. Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it.

here is my current rig that i am hoping to significantly improve performance upon:
AMD athlon II X2 240 (2.8), 6 gigabytes of 667mhz ddr2, 600w cheapo psu, gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H, Hitachi 1 tb harddrive. 7200rpm, 6 120 mm case fans, Thermaltake r1 cpu cooler, BFG gtx 260 core 216. Lite-on DVD drive. Case: Thermaltake V3

I am selling this comp to raise some money for my new build, also I will be gaming mainly at 1650X1024 or in some instances 1920X1080.

Any suggestions are very greatly appreciated

 

[sp12]

at 1680 you really don't need more than a 5770. See if you can drop in a Phenom2 X4 into that mobo.

 

[rolli59]

For 500 it is not easy but http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.473055 No SLI or CF. Why don't you just upgrade the CPU to PhenomII X4?

 

[jjb8675309]

my current motherboard will take the 955 or 965 no problem but im looking for an entirely new system even if it means digging deeper into my wallet.

other options that I have considered include: upgrade the processor and the video card of my current rig, or upgrade the motherboard processor and add another gtx 260 to my current rig which would require a power supply upgrade as well. The problem here is that at this point im, just some ram, a HD and DVD drive away from a brand new rig anyway, also im not sure about the gtx 260 sli and if its worth it over other options. Overall I'm not quite sure what the best move is at this point.

Also another gtx 260 can be had from unity electronics online for 117 w shipping

 

[jjb8675309]

Best answer selected by jjb8675309.