[ohGrFreak]

I'm just wanting to get my computer up to current spec, SATA, PCI-E, DDR2, etc... I also want to play HL2 EP2 on high settings without my screen going blank mid-play.

I have the tower with plenty of cooling, I also have a good HDD and a nice PSU, but here's a list of what I want to purchase for the update, what do you guys and gals think about this for a modest upgrade? All prices are newegg and shipping is included, my budget is 300 max including shipping.

GIGABYTE GA-M61SME-S2 AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
53 shipped

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ Brisbane 2.1GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
58 shipped

WINTEC AMPX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
45 shipped

LITE-ON Black SATA DVD burner - OEM
32 shipped

XFX PVT84JYAJG GeForce 8600GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
105 shipped

TOTAL $293.00

[SHAWN]

Not to shabby in my opinion. My setup still works well although I could use 1 more GB of memory. You'll be fine.

[ohGrFreak]

Thanks, my computer right now tears through most things pretty easily, but the longer I wait, the more behind the times I will be.

I can't believe all it will take for an almost complete uprgrade is less than 300 bucks. I can't even get the old school parts for that nowadays...

[Peter.Cort]

you might want to consider getting a different card. the 8600GT is a bit under powered for gaming. if you can fit it into your budget get either a 8800GT or either a 3850/3870. both are reasonably priced cards and give you tons of power.

[ohGrFreak]

If the 8600 GT is better than my 6800, I'll be fine, I can lower the res until I can dump a few hundred on a card. For the money, the 8600 GT looked like the best deal around.