System upgrade

[AzuthZero]

Hey all. I'm looking to upgrade 3 main components of my PC, but am unsure of what to get at the moment. I need to upgrade my CPU, mobo, and RAM. I currently have a 3 year old 2500+ Barton OC'd to a 190 FSB (mobo couldn't handle more, and teh CPU is locked), so I'm thinking an Athlon 64 would be a big upgrade. I use an Athlon 64 3500+ a lot, and I can tell a huge difference in overall system response/performance compared to my current computer.

The main thing is I plan to overclock this CPU, since I'm on a budget of around $500-$600. I was looking at the 3000+ CPU since it's very cheap, and i was wondeirng if anyone could advise me on how well it overclocks.

Another thing is motherboards. i need a motherboard with an AGP slot, since I will still be using my Radeon 9700 Pro. I know it's an old card, but it's usually good enough for what I use it for anyway. ( mainly MMO's)

And finally RAM. Since I do play a lot of MMORPGs, I was seriously considering 2GB of ram. 512MB is just not enough.

If anyone can give me any advise on how to upgrade these 3 components to fit within my budgte, it would be greatly appreciated. I will probably use this upgraded computer for the next 2-3 years before I do any more major upgrades (aside from MAYBE a video card upgrade in a year or so) so keep that in mind. I've mainly been putting off upgrading because I was waiting for dual-cores, but they're still so darn expensive. I was hoping they'd be around the $250 range by now.....

Anyway, thanks in advance for any help =)
If you need any more info, feel free to ask.

P.S. Anyone have any idea when dual cores will be $200-$300? I might still wait if it's soon enough, lol.

 

[cbns]

since dual core is the future, and you have up to 600$ to spend, get dual core.
i don't know about overclocking them, tough.
i think the x2 3800 is 350$.
you can get anyold 939 mobo on agp with the nforce3 chipset for like 80$, or the asus via one. i dont know if tey have the bios update for dual core tough, you should check that out first.

you won't need 2gb of ram unless you are doing some extreme gaming or exensive work on your pc. most programs and games will be more than happy with 1 gb ram.
you can get any old basic value ram that runs at ddr400 with 2-3-3-8 timings or better.
shouldn't cost you more than 130 for a gig.

your total --> 560$

 

[AzuthZero]

yeah, I was really leaning towards the dual core. Few quick questions on it though.

1) anyone have any problems with it? how is overclocking?
2) is there a chance for a price drop in the coming months? cheapest price for the x2 3800+ at the moment is $409. still a bit high for me.
3) My main concern with the RAM was whether or not 1GB was enough. I was leaning towards dual core because I tend to do a lot of stuff at once. For example, I'll have EQ2 running, be playing some music, have AIM up, and be surfing with Firefox. With my dad's athlon 64 3500+ and 1GB of RAM, that entire 1GB is used, and there's definitely a noticeable slowdown after a while to the point where I need to restart. I just don't want the dual core proc to be held back by a lack of ram is all.

Thanks again =)

 

[Furen]

MMOs do like more than one gig of ram. I'd get two gigs but you'll be a bit (like 80ish bucks) overbudget. I think the price for the X2 should drop to around 350ish within two weeks or so (unless there is a shortage) but if you cant wait, then you can buy it from MWave for 388+tax+shipping...