Opinions on my planned upgrade.

[ChickenCharlie]

I'm planning on upgrading my current system and want to be sure I'm spending my money wisely. I mostly use it for internet and gaming. My current specs are as follows;

AMD Athlon XP 2800+
ECS K7VTA3 motherboard w/4X AGP
Kingston 2700 512MB
PNY GeForce FX5200 128MB
Quantum Fireball 20GB

I will be keeping my CPU for now because I can't afford to upgrade that just yet. I Would like to get another year out of this. So here is what I'm planning.

Abit KV7-V motherboard w/8X AGP and dual channel memmory
Corsair Twin 1024-3200C2 1GB
eVGA GeForce 6600GT 128MB
WD Caviar 800JD 80GB

Now my questions. Will the 8X AGP and the PC 3200 memory make much difference in gaming peformance over what I have now? Also, about the video card, is 128MB enough? I can get an eVGA 6600(vanilla) 256MB for about the same price as the GT 128MB. Which would give better gaming performance?
Thank you in advance for your help!

[blue60007]

The 6600GT 128 will provide much better performance a 6600 256 - infact, I doubt there's much difference between the regular 6600 and the 256 version.

I think you will see a huge boost from the 6600GT from what you've got now.

Also, that is XMS RAM isn't it? That's a bit overboard - get a dual channel kit (2 x 512MB) of Corsair Value Select, it'll cost much less with nearly the same peformance.

[glc]

Will the 8X AGP and the PC 3200 memory make much difference in gaming peformance over what I have now?

Nope. The increase from 512mb to 1gb will though. You still only have a 333 FSB processor. You are at a dead end with Socket A, the odds of finding a 400 FSB Athlon XP are getting slimmer and slimmer.

The GT will game better because it's a faster GPU.

I know you said you can't afford a new CPU, but what about a 754 board and a Sempron 64?

[ChickenCharlie]

Well, if the 8X AGP dosn't make that much difference should I just keep my ECS motherboard and add another 512 or 1GB of ram? I don't want to go w/the 754 and Sempron because eventually I want to move up Athlon64 3700+ and 939 board. I'd rather spend as little as possible now and save up for the bigger upgrade.

[glc]

You might as well just do that rather than buying an interim motherboard. Make sure your power supply is up to the task of running a higher powered video card, that's all. If you need a bigger hard drive, go ahead and get IDE - when you get a new board, you can pull it and put it in an external housing for backups. You will notice a BIG difference between the 5200 and a 6600GT - the 5200 is a terrible card.

[ChickenCharlie]

Thanks for the advice all. You have helped me out quite alot!