Best gaming mobo/processor/ram/case for under $500? (AMD or Intel?)

[cmdrdredd]

When I buy/build a comp I always go SUPER HIGH END. When I built this PC I spent almost $1200 all together including the OS/KBD/Mouse(MX700 Logitech)/Monitor 2 HDs DVD/CDRW etc etc etc the whole 9 yards including the Z560 4.1 speakers for my gaming bliss

my specs are
Xp Pro (retail)
P4 2.26 (bought when it was first available)
Albatron PX845PEV Pro (got when first released)
512MB Corsair XMS3200
Maxtor Dimond Max 60GB
external Firewire 40GB
Lite-On 48x CDRW
Pioneer 16x DVD
Enermax 431W PSU
Hercules Gametheater Xp
ATI Radeon 9700Pro (got when first released)
Logitech Z560 4.1 speakers
Logitech MX700 Wireless Optical Mouse

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

That's great cmdrdredd but I'm on a budget! Wish I could spend that kind of money of course, but not having a job is great for gaming

Got any suggestions for the parts in my budget though?

 

[cmdrdredd]

I already suggested what I think would be good

I was just saying how easy it is to go overboard and spend alot of dough!

 

[Chris431]

UPDATE: I did a fresh install of the OS & reran 3dmarks. My new score after 2 test runs was ~13498. This was a surprising and significant increase from my previous scores of about 12144. This test was run with DX9 as opposed to the previous tests which were DX8. Yet, I had ran some underclocked tests when DX9 was installed previously & found the results to be consistent in relation to my base results suggesting the DX9 doesn't have much impact on 3dmarks.

In light of my previous post comparing the 9700 Pro to overclocked 9500 Pros, these results solidify that a 9700 Pro with a slower cpu (~1600ghz) will yield significantly greater results than a 9500 Pro (overclocked or not) & a high end CPU.

You can compare this new score with the summaries of various 9500 Pro results in my previous post.

Chris