[Seaner]

Hello everyone! Thank you in advance for your replies.

Current system is:

XP1900+ w/Thermaltake Volcano 7+
MSI KT400 ULTRA (MS6590 bios 1.0)
512 mb PC2700
SB Audigy X Gamer
40GB Maxtor 7200rpm
Gainward Geforce Ti4200 64mb w/Enhanced VGA Cooler

I am an avid gamer and have built all my rigs. I want to upgrade, but there are so many options out there.

I would like a suggestion on:

MOBO (considering ASUS A7VN8X or similar),

CPU (Ghz rating and is Barton way better than standard?),

RAM (would dual channel 256x2 be better than one x512 in performance?),

lastly video card, I've been a big Nvidia fan but I've spent countless hours reading tons of reviews and it seems as though ATI 9800pro should be where my money goes?

Your suggestions are truly appreciated!! By the way, after this upgrade I'll have a Ti4200, G3 Ti200, Kt400 Mobo and 512mb 2700DDR available at a bargain!

Seaner

[McTimson]

Honestly, I wouldn't bother upgrading it yet...I mean, you could get a new mobo and CPU, but you wouldn't really get that much performance improvement out of it.

But if you still want to...

Motherboard: The A7VN8X is a good choice, basically anything that uses the nForce2 chipset, so you can take advantage of the dual-channel RAM.

CPU: Bartons are good, because they have more cache, and higher FSB's. The 2600+ (2.08 ghz) Barton is selling for $94 on newegg, that looks like a pretty good deal.

RAM: Get 2 sticks, if you want 256's, then fine, but it may be better to just get another 512 stick, that way you have 1 gig of RAM, and the dual-channel benefits.

Video: If you absolutely must have the best, then either the 9800pro or nvidia's FX5900, but those cost a lot. You could get a slightly lower end card (FX5800 or Radeon 9500/9600/maybe even 9700) for a lot cheaper. But, it's your choice.

And uh...I'd gladly take some of those parts off of ya...seriously...PM me with the prices you'll be selling them for.