Time to upgrade! Help me out!

[Aeolus]

Well my crappy Celeron 333 is at the end of its days. I downloaded the SoF II demo and it finally made me decide to upgrade. Surprisingly SoF II was quite playable for me keeping a constant 30 fps even in fire fights; this is really strange because I can't get CS to run at a solid 10 fps! Ha! Here is where I am currently.

Celeron 333 w/ 440 BX
384 Meg PC100 Ram
ATi Radeon VE Video

I don't want to spend a crap load of cash on this upgrade, I would really like to be able to keep using the RAM I have if possible. My max budget for a new video card/cpu/mobo is $250. I am pretty set on a GeForce2 Ultra 64 Meg card for my video, I can get one new for $100, but if you have suggestions for another card lay em' on me. Not sure about CPU/Mobo - I'd like to go AMD because its more bang for my buck but if there is good performing Intel solutions for cheap I might lean that way as well.

Thanks in advance, any and all information is helpful!

 

[microAmp]

From NewEgg:

1.2 GHz Duron Retail $68.00

Optional Mobo's

MSI K7T Turbo2 $73.00
or
ECS K7S5A $54.00

ECS can support DDR or SDRAM, not at same time, giving you the option to upgrade to DDR later.

MSI/Duron $141
ECS/Duron $122

No shipping included.

 

[Athlon4all]

What Case/PS? You will probably need a new one unless you have a 300W ATX case. Here's my list including a new Case:

ECS K7S5A $52
Athlon XP 1600+ Retail $100
Radeon 7500 $80 or so
Antec SX630 $65
Total: $295

Ok so it's over budget. The only thing I can think of is moving down to a Duron 1.2 Retail, but that keeps the price still at $265. So, you make the call. I would not recommend mvoing down on the vid card because moving down from the GF2 Ti/R7500/GF4MX 440 market, will move you down to the Radeon DDR which is a lot slower than the 3 mentioned.

Oh and I thought I'd mention, a GF2 Ultra is prolly right on par with a R7500, and I'll add, if you're going to spend $100 on a vid card, I'd see if you could scrounge up an extra $20 to get a GeForce3 Ti 200 for $120. Good Luck! If you've got any questions, just ask.