Upgrading my current PC?

[NotDylan]

Hello all, first post here, if this is the wrong forum to post this in I apologize. My current pc is getting somewhat dated and I am looking to make some upgrades. I've set a $500 limit for myself but am willing to go over if it is really worth doing so. Current specs are:

Asus A8N-SLI 32 Deluxe
Athlon 64 4000+
2x 512 400mhz pc3200 ddr
7600GT 256mb (had 2 but cooked one)
2x 80gb HD
600 watt PS

Now, I have already made up my mind on the video card, an 8800GTS (have this one in mind: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130309 ). Also, I'd like to upgrade to 2gb of RAM but I am not certain if I need to buy the same speed of ram or if I could go faster with my current mobo.

As far as the processor goes, I found out that my mobo is a 939 pin. My options on newegg appear to be: the standard 64(what I have), 64 FX(http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?Item=N82E16819103526), 64 X2(http://www.newegg.com/Product/...007&name=Athlon+64+X2), and something called Opteron(http://www.newegg.com/Product/...50706979&name=Opteron). What is the difference in these, is there a favorite among them? Will any of them not work in my mobo?

The problems I have with my current PC is it doesn't run CoD4 or Crysis (the demos) worth a damn and even WoW runs poorly at times. Also, I like to run several things at once; browser, winamp, WMP, WoW, ect at all the same time and my system can really bog down when doing that. Thanks for your help.

[hitchface]

First off, I'll say welcome to PCMech. We are glad to have you with us, and hope we can answer your questions. Now, to the nitty gritty...

Your problem is a lack of RAM. I have nearly identical specs (my video card is worse actually) and I run those demos quite well, and multi-task the hell out of my machine.

For a new CPU, either stick with the X2 line (maybe a black box version of the 5000+ or even the 6400+ if you wanna overclock) or go with the new Phenom line for some quad-core action. Either way, get 2 gigs of Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800 (dirt cheap, especially with a massive mail-in rebate, VERY good RAM) and DON'T mix it with the stuff you've got.

Video card? For the price of a GTS, you might as well get an 8800 GT or an ATI HD 3870, but as it stands, your current one will run both of those demos with very reasonable performance. Supplies are short on the ATI cards, unfortunately, so there will be a bit of a wait.

Hope that helps.

[liambl]

That motherboard needs DDR, new ram will be expensive. If you upgraded just the video card, you would have one reasonable PC.

PS. you might want to check out the brand and model of your PSU, you should only use quality units.