possible upgrade of several components...choices

[looper]

This computer is our family gaming machine: (from April 2007- nothing over-clocked):

*Asus P5B Deluxe/WiFi (old Bios)
*E6600 cpu / 1066fsb / 4mb L2 / 2.4ghz
*Corsair / 2 gig / XMS2 / 6400 C4 (4-4-4-12) 800mhz
*nVidia BFG Geforce 8800GTS vid card (640mb)
*Seagate Barracuda HD /400gig /
*PC Power & Cooling PS / Silencer 610 EPS:
+3.3v = 24A +5 v = 30A +12V= 49A
*Dell monitor 2001FP 20"
*Creative Labs X-Fi sound
*D Link DIR655 Router
*Win XP Pro
*Lian Li case: PC-A16 A SIL RT

Considering doing some upgrading, and would like your ideas please...and check out my questions...

*Have another 1 gig stick of the Corsair memory coming in...3 gig is
all I can run w/ that OS, correct?
*Would it be worth it to go to Vista 64 bit? And, could I install it over
XP? If I do this...can then run 4 gig of memory, correct?
*At the Asus site, it lists the various cpu's that will run on this board...
what is the fastest & best-value cpu to get... and...
*I will have to update the BIOS...scary for me...many of Bios' listed
say "beta"...should I be afraid? Which one?
*Worth getting the nvidia GTX 280 or 260 video card? And, will
this MB "run" that video card w/ my PS?

Any other thoughts... THX, folks...

Brian in RI / USA

 

[DSF]

Your system isn't cutting edge, but it's still very capable. What's running slowly right now? How big is your monitor?

 

[looper]

Dell 2001FP 20"... great monitor...I love it

Actually, nothing is running slowly. As I said, this rig is for gaming for me and my son. I'd like to play COD4, and the new COD5 (out today) at higher resolutions and still have a great frame rate. Guess I'm just getting that "itch"...you know what I mean... the curse of being a computer home-hobbyist/semi-geek, or as my son calls me, "The old geek/jock"...

So, what would be the "most bang for the buck" upgrade path here?

Thx...

Brian