I've been away for a while. Pls help

[FrankDrebbin]

Hi there,
I've not been into using my PC for the past couple of years, and recently decided to upgrade my computer. I've bought a radeon 3870 but some other things have changed a bit, so have some questions I would really appreciate some help with.

I currently have an Asus A8n PCIe, socket 939 motherboard, with a single core Athlon 64 clocked@2.5ghz.
A Tagan 480w psu.
2gb of G-Skill 2-2-2-5 3200 ram (I think).

In order to play any recent games, I assume that the above set up will be pretty poor with a radeon 3870?
Would I benefit significantly from getting a multi-core cpu? (my monitor only works properly at 1680x1050). dual core cpus seem to be pretty hard to find for socket 939 now. Is it worth trying to track one down? or if I need a new cpu, what would be a good (AMD?) cpu for overclocking? I.e. what cheap cpu can be clocked at the same stable speed as a more expensive one?
Do I also have to get an AM2+ Motherboard? or is AM2 or some other standard ok?
Finally, is the above Ram too slow/incompatible with new Mobos, I remember it was pretty fast when I bought it several years back, but 3200 seems to be ultra slow now.

Thanks very much in advance for any help.

 

[DSF]

Your old RAM wouldn't be useful in a new system. (If it's DDR, it wouldn't even be compatible.)

Honestly, you're at the point where you're not getting a good return on your money by trying to upgrade piecemeal. I don't know how much money you're willing to spend, but a new CPU, motherboard and RAM would give you the best value, even if the gross cost is significantly larger.

 

[Denithor]

Asus a8n SLI CPU support list

With a BIOS update you can use up to an X2 4800+ -- the hardest part will be finding one, as you have already discovered AMD has ceased production of these chips so the retail supply has dried up. Look around the FS/FT forum here or eBay and see what you can find. I wouldn't spend more than $30-40 though, beyond that it's going to be better to upgrade the whole thing. (Keep in mind you can get a solid AM2 board for $50, an X2 4850e for $60 and 4GB DDR2 for $30 which will be faster and much cooler than any s939 setup.)

You've already got 2GB of RAM, if you're running XP that's enough for gaming and typical use.

3870 is a fairly old card but it's still a solid mid-range card (performs slightly below the 9800GT). For 16x10 it's not a bad choice. Pair it up with an X2 4200 or 4800 and you're good to go for at least a while. Just keep in mind, before you start buying equipment next time, you're going to be in for a full upgrade when this setup starts feeling slow.