Need advice regarding upgrading

Here's what I currently have:AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 2.01Ghz (Dual Core - Socket 939)3 GB DDR RamNVIDIA GeForce 9600 GSO 768MBRosewill 520W Power SupplyI'd like to play a few of the latest PC games and possibly future games that are coming out like Batman AA, Red Faction %26 Resident Evil 5, etc. I'm thinking my processor is/will be the major problem here and possibly some other things.My question is should I upgrade certain part(s) or would the best option be to build a new system?. If I upgrade my processor I would probably need a new motherboard, ram, and power supply so I'm not sure what the best option would be.And if I can run the above games on medium settings at 1024/768 I'm happy as I'm still mainly using an old CRT monitor.Any help is appreciated.Need advice regarding upgrading
Upgrade to an AM3 setup, that means new RAM, mobo and CPU the rest can stay as it is. If you know how to build your own PC then you should never have to replace the whole thing all at once.Need advice regarding upgrading
[QUOTE=''markop2003'']Upgrade to an AM3 setup, that means new RAM, mobo and CPU the rest can stay as it is. If you know how to build your own PC then you should never have to replace the whole thing all at once.[/QUOTE]I was thinking this might be the answer. Could you offer any recommendations (I've been a little out of the loop for a while)? Also my power supply is a little flaky I guess being Rosewill even though it hasn't given me problems. I have 2HDD/Dvd Drive in the PC as well. Would I need a new power supply if I upgrade to AM3 processor/motherboard?And yea I have no problem putting new parts in as I built it.
[QUOTE=''nmhn''][QUOTE=''markop2003'']Upgrade to an AM3 setup, that means new RAM, mobo and CPU the rest can stay as it is. If you know how to build your own PC then you should never have to replace the whole thing all at once.[/QUOTE]I was thinking this might be the answer. Could you offer any recommendations (I've been a little out of the loop for a while)? Also my power supply is a little flaky I guess being Rosewill even though it hasn't given me problems. I have 2HDD/Dvd Drive in the PC as well. Would I need a new power supply if I upgrade to AM3 processor/motherboard?And yea I have no problem putting new parts in as I built it.[/QUOTE]I'd say get this Motherboard, this RAM, this PSU, and choose amongst these CPUs - depending on your budget. If its big enough, you might wanna pair up that gpu.
[QUOTE=''nmhn''][QUOTE=''markop2003'']Upgrade to an AM3 setup, that means new RAM, mobo and CPU the rest can stay as it is. If you know how to build your own PC then you should never have to replace the whole thing all at once.[/QUOTE]I was thinking this might be the answer. Could you offer any recommendations (I've been a little out of the loop for a while)? Also my power supply is a little flaky I guess being Rosewill even though it hasn't given me problems. I have 2HDD/Dvd Drive in the PC as well. Would I need a new power supply if I upgrade to AM3 processor/motherboard?And yea I have no problem putting new parts in as I built it.[/QUOTE]

You're PSU is ok, the quality ain't great but you shouldn't need another.
[QUOTE=''nmhn'']Here's what I currently have:AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 2.01Ghz (Dual Core - Socket 939)3 GB DDR RamNVIDIA GeForce 9600 GSO 768MBRosewill 520W Power SupplyI'd like to play a few of the latest PC games and possibly future games that are coming out like Batman AA, Red Faction %26 Resident Evil 5, etc. I'm thinking my processor is/will be the major problem here and possibly some other things.My question is should I upgrade certain part(s) or would the best option be to build a new system?. If I upgrade my processor I would probably need a new motherboard, ram, and power supply so I'm not sure what the best option would be.And if I can run the above games on medium settings at 1024/768 I'm happy as I'm still mainly using an old CRT monitor.Any help is appreciated.[/QUOTE]Overclock that old X2 as far as you can get it (should be 2.4ghz+), and get a better video card. I would recommend nothing above a 9800gtx/ATI 4850 ($120-$140) though, as you will be getting CPU-bottlenecked. You'd be surprised how much a 300-400mhz overclock can help! Or.. you could replace your CPU/MOBO/RAM (for $160-$200.. it will cost that much to include a CPU that will be significantly faster than what you have). Either way, you're going to spend between $120 and $200 bucks.If you overclock your current CPU and get a new GPU, you will of course need to upgrade your CPU/mobo/RAM sometime in the next 12-18 months anyhow.. but you will need to upgrade your GPU within that same timeframe if you get the CPU/mobo/RAM now and keep the 9600GSO. You see what I'm saying? I think your greatest performance increase for the dollar would come from overclocking that 3800 X2 to at least the 2.4ghz range (if you don't mind overclocking), and getting a better GPU. I say this because you're not going to see a huge peformance benefit from having a new Mobo/CPU unless you get either a 3ghz+ dual-core AMD, or a triple or quad-core Phenom.. or a 2.5ghz+ intel dual or quad-core. DDR2 and DDR3 RAM don't show huge performance gains in gaming, so that's not a huge plus. My last rig was a socket 939 X2 running at 2.6ghz, along with my 8800gts 512. I could run Crysis on all high settings @ 1680x1050, and average 32-33fps. That should tell you what even an old, overclocked X2 is capable of. (My E8400@3.7ghz with the same GPU averages 37fps).