Time to upgrade

[WarmMachineME]

Well, I used to be on the high end, but I've let myself slip. It's about time I've started upgrading. I expect to hang on to a few things, but my mobo doesn't have PCI Express, SATA, nor does it support multi-core. So I'm just about starting from the ground up. My current system specs are in my sig.

I'm an avid gamer and I appreciate being on the cutting edge, so my budget is flexible. I spend many hours on my computer; what I can't quite afford, I'll save up for. I'm not totally insane though, so nothing like $1000 processors and such. :p

Here's what I've already got:
This is basically my case. From Chenming, also known as Chieftec:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811125444
Except that mine also has a fan in the window over the PCI slots.

My monitor which I actually purchased within the last couple of months. I haven't updated my sig to show it yet:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001085

I've got a G3 laser mouse that I'm really happy with, and I'll be keeping the same old speakers for awhile longer unless I end up spending far less than I anticipate on this upgrade. I also have your typical DVD drive and CD R/RW burner. don't see much reason to buy new of those. That leaves:

Mobo - Want one that I can hopefully live with through future upgrade cycles to come; something with high potential, no bottlenecks.
CPU - Intel is the way to go these days, especially with this price drop coming up this month. But I've been out of the market for awhile, so I'll need some education...
RAM - If it wouldn't take away funds from other components, possibly a little extra than standard? 2-4gb?
Vid card - I generally like Nvidia here, and given my preferences I'm willing to part with the most green here almost more than any other component.
SATA HDs - I'm struggling with my measley 80gb and 40gb IDE drives that I'm stuck with now. I'm really looking forward to moving up to a big fat new HD.

Not sure about:
Sound card - Not a big audiophile. My current one isn't so bad, and unless I upgrade the speaker system I wouldn't notice much anyways.
PSU - I'm guessing I'll most likely need a beefier one since as I said before I want no bottlenecks.
OS - So far I'm unconvinced about Vista. I'd prefer to wait until it's more proven before getting it for myself.

On a related topic, suggestions about what to do with all these parts I'm replacing? I expect I'll be making a spare computer out of them, but would I be able to get much on the used market?

Thanks a bunch.

[Freakitchen]

Would suggest, as you've probably already guessed, a strong Intel C2D system, based around these components:

Motherboard: ASUS P5B series. Pick which one has the features you want. The plain P5B is a great board, but the P5B-E adds built in Firewire. The P5B Deluxe is much more expensive, but it is a strong overclocker. It also adds Crossfire capability, but as an nVidia fan I guess that won't impress you too much. I'm not a fan of dual video card solutions, regardless.

CPU: C2D E6600 - which will be hit by the price drop at the end of the month

RAM: Not much point getting more than 2GB until you upgrade to 64-bit Vista. I'd get 2x1GB Sticks of Corsair VS DDR2-667 (or Corsair XMS DDR2-800 if you're interested in overclocking). On any of the P5B boards, this will leave you with two spare DIMMs for an upgrade.

Video Card: Two ways to go here. The move to Direct X 10 is pending, yet the nVidia 8800 series are the only DX10 capable cards out yet. SO, either get yourself one of these, or - my suggestion - get a mid-range 'placeholder' video card, like an nVidia 7600GT, and upgrade when a full range of the next gen cards have been released. eVGA is my suggested brand regardless.

Hard Drive: Seagate 7200.10 320GB drives can't be beaten for price and performance. Get yourself one or two!

Soundcard: Give the motherboard's on-board audio a try. Unless you have a NICE set of surround sound speakers, you wouldn't benefit from anything better.

PSU: The Corsair HX520w PSU is what I'd recommend for anyone buying - or intending to upgrade to - a beefy video card.

You SHOULD buy a SATA DVD Burner - the IDE controller on the P5B motherboards is third party, and not compatible with all drives. Suggest a Lite-on Retail model.

FK

[WarmMachineME]

Thanks for the recommendations. Done some looking up, and here's what I've found. All links lead to descriptions on Newegg, by the way.

Motherboard - ASUS P5B Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131045)
$179.99
You were right, these do appear to be solid boards. I've opted for the Deluxe (sans WiFi for -$11) since I have wanted to dabble into OCing, but mainly because it's a premium board for not much extra. That price is a good $50-$100 cheaper than I was expecting to look at.
Some of the reviews do state problems with the onboard sound chip - though possibly only with 5.1 - and a need to flash the BIOS out of the box to get higher end components working (2.0 volt RAM) which is kind of a pain. Also didn't find mention of support for some of the more forward-looking tech (quad core, Nvidia SLI, all of which will hopefully become more affordable down the road) but thanks to the price I don't mind so much having to possibly upgrade again a little sooner.
What is your opinion of this P5N32 board (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131153) for +$10? Clearly states that Quad core, SLI, and even a standalone physics card are supported, with the same problems mentioned in reviews as the one above. Possibly a slightly longer useful life?

CPU -
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115003)
Looks like a no brainer here. Best Intel processor without being prohibitively expensive, and with a price drop around the corner.
$308.00
If the price of the E6700 comes closer to this after the drop, I'm considering springing for it instead. Good idea?

RAM - CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131153)
$130.00 (after rebate)
After comparing some prices, didn't see a reason not to go with premium RAM for what ultimately amounted to something like a $21 difference.

Vid card - EVGA 256-P2-N550 -T2 GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130073)
$89.99 (after rebate)
I like your plan here, since effectively any non-DX10 compatible card will be in the fast lane to becoming obsolete once those cards are released. I had to laugh though; this card is less that 1/5 of the price I paid for my last one...

Hard drive - I'll save the link and so forth here since it's exactly what you recommended: Seagate 320gb SATA 7200rpm. I agree, price is great, and I may just pick up two after all.
$89.99 - $179.98

PSU - The Corsair you recommended gets high marks. Higher price than the Antecs I'm used to, but apparently those are going downhill. If money's looking good, may pony up for the 620W model over the 520W. Should be all set on the PSU for a good while then.
$124.99-$169.99

Optical drives - DVD burner (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106072), DVD-ROM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106039)
I have a burner and a reader listed simply because I like having two optical drives. The burner takes care of, well, burning, the reader is for general use and for ease when copying discs.
$45.99, $17.99

With these new parts, that gives me an initial, pre-shipping total of ~$1000 on the low side. About what I was expecting, I suppose...

[Katreat]

Regardless of newegg reviews of the P5P, members of this site who have a great deal of experience using this board feel it is one of the best out there for the C2D processor. I think the chipset just makes it a very stable platform but wait for a few more comments from people who have worked with both.

The following link takes you to an article on C2D price drops. If you are not building to the thrid quarter things will be even rosier, plus AMD is scheduled to release there competive CPUs around that time. Which probably explains why Intel is being so aggressive in pricing.

http://www.behardware.com/news/8654/core-2-brades-3e-trimestre.html

[WarmMachineME]

That's some great info Katreat. Looks like after June will be an ideal time to buy. Could go for a 3.0 Ghz dual processor or even 2.4 Ghz quad at the same price (though how many programs could really benefit from quad core this year?).

I'm kicking myself that my current processor is socket 478 and not LGA 775, otherwise I would just put it in the new board until the price drops. It has me wondering if I shouldn't do the same with the processors as with the vid card and buy a "placeholder" 775 on the cheap until these deep discounts hit, because I'd like to get going on this build this month ideally.

Thanks much, I appreciate the discussion. :D