AM2 Upgrade Advice

[p00p00head]

I'm thinking now is the time to upgrade my components and I could use some advice. Currently, I have the follow system as my gaming system:

AMD X2 3800+
2 gigs DDR2 PC6400 RAM (screwed up by getting 2 x 512 sticks and 1 x 1gb stick)
Geforce 7600GT
Gigabyte GA-M51GM-S2G Socket AM2 mobo
380W PSU unit
160 gb 7200rpm Sata/300 drive

My upgrade budget is $200 or less. Ideally, I want it to serve me for 1 more year. I plan on building an entirely new system next year after all the games that I want to play come out (SC2, Diablo 3). This upgrade is primarily so that I can run Source based games on max settings on 1440x900 res (CS:S, TF2, Left4Dead).

Here are the parts I was thinking about getting:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400 BE = $62.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103289

MSI Radeon 4670 = $59.99 after MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127415

4 gb's (2x2) Corsair DDR2 PC6400 = $19.99 after MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184

Total ~ $150

I'd really appreciate any suggestions/advice regarding my selection and whether there are better choices in increasing my current gaming speed for less than $150. I don't want to drain much more than that into this aging system. Like I said, this will only service me for about an year. Thanks for reading.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

If only keeping it a year, you may be better off to just grab the 4670 and overclock the 3800 x2. That way you only dump about 80 bucks into it.

 

[steckman]

I upgraded from an Athlon 64 X2 4200+ with an 8600GT to an Athlon 64 X2 5200+ and a Radeon 4670 back in October. It cost me less than $150 at the time and was WELL worth the money. I've played through Fallout 3 and Far Cry 2 at 1680x1050 with that setup without issue.

 

[Outlander_04]

If you are using XP then it will be 32 bit and you wont see an improvement from more RAM

Get the faster processor and a 4830 for about $152

 

[marco324]

second the 4830
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102822
$89.99 ($74.99 after $15.00 Mail-InRebate ) Free Shipping*