Upgrade for 3.5 year old gaming PC

[BDT]

Hi there, and thanks in advance for taking a look at this thread. Goal is an upgrade of my present system, specs of which are to follow.

I primarily use the system for home office, with a good bit of gaming. About 50/50 FPS and RTS, where I long for the days of Total Annihilation to return as the prophecy says it shall. . . . .


I've built one PC, can pretty much do the basics in terms of assembly.

Many thanks in advance for your assistance, I used the template for a new build for an overview, but if that's incorrect, please let me know.

-BDT


Approximate Purchase Date: 2-3 weeks


Budget Range: $1000-1300 After Rebates


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, office use.


Parts that I have are below. I'd like to use the power supply and case if possible, as well as the fan.

Keyboard (Logitech G15),

mouse (Logitech MX518),

monitor (24 in Dell 2407WFP Ultrasharp™ Flat Panel)

power supply (Thermaltake W0106RU 700W)

Memory - 4Gb of Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor BX80557E6600

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU fan (ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler).

I have an EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support as graphics card, which could eventually used if applicable.

Lian case


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, but will order from any reputable dealer.


Country of Origin: USA


Parts Preferences: Intel for CPU


Overclocking: Maybe


SLI or Crossfire: Maybe


Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200


Additional Comments: I could care less how it looks, I want it to perform like greased lightning.

 

[HeyImGodly]

and they shall call her OVERKILL.
*or overkill that stays in your budget *

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261073
(Can Always Be Switched To a Gtx 460 or ATi 5850)

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

OS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754

CPU/Mobo Combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.520661

CPU Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

Thermal Compound For CPU Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020

you can reuse the Power Supply, and possibly the case*


Grand Total: $1,006.91



this is better than greased lightning its OverKill.

the Mobo also allows for SLi if you wanted to at a later time (when the next Nividia Cards are launched and the price of another gtx 470 drops)

 

[boiler1990]

I would strongly suggest 2 GTX 460s of a quality brand like EVGA or MSI. Palit makes decent stuff, but it's not always put together well. Two 460s outperform a single 480 for the same price. I have the EVGA External Exhaust models with the lifetime warranty. I was also able to save a few bucks by getting the stock cards and OCing myself (it's very simple; I can help you with it).

Going for the 1156 i7 series isn't work the money. The most recommended Intel CPU for budget gamers is the i5-760. It's also easily overclockable from what I've heard. I would try to find a combo with that CPU.