Greetings, I am a novice with these machines, but I managed to build a PC approximately 2 years ago w/ the following specs: - ASUS P5ND2 SLI Deluxe Mobo - LGA775, PCI-Ex16, DDR2-400/533/667 (up to 8 GB) etc... - Intel P4 640 HT 3.2 ghz - 1 Gig RAM - 200 GB HD - ASUS Extreme 7800GTX w/ 256MB video card - On board sound (7.1) The PC runs fine. It runs HL2 w/out a glitch, including Episode 1 at 1600 x 1200. STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl runs fine at 1024 x 768 (or whatever). Frankly, I haven't had any problems running any games. Then again, I haven't purchased Bioshock, which, from what I hear, contains a plethora of potential technical problems. But let me offer the following hypothetical: suppose I want to upgrade my video card. Is it worth upgrading? As for other components, the only thing I could think of would be to add another gig of RAM or a bigger HD. For being 2 years old, this machine has lived a healthy life and has afforded me hours (or years) of gaming pleasure. Of course, there is the saying, "If it ain't broken, don't fix it." I'm almost convinced that I wasted money on SLI...then again, adding a 2nd video card is an option here. Any thoughts? Should I start thinking about a new machine? The latter question seems ridiculous given that my current machine works...

RAM upgrade is an option, otherwise stand pat...do NOT go SLi.

You can always get a new core 2 duo CPU to replace your p4 640... TMP-Man Asus P5P800 PAT P4 506 @ 4009Mhz 1.3v Thermaltake CLP0024 w/ 1700RPM 92MM + AS5 2GB OCZ 2-3-2-5 DDR400 120GB/300GB 7200RPM HD Leadtek 7600GT AGP 590/1600 VF700 ALCU AS5

A pentium D dual core, or if your board supports it, a core, or core2 duo. The RAM, yes, easy upgrade. Video seems fine, but if you have the option to, I would go SLI. I miss the Voodoo2 days. Dont know why Jam is saying dont go SLI, it literally doubles rendering performance. So yes, do SLI if you have the option.

SLI Does NOT double the performance, it costs more than buying a single good graphics card that outperforms it. It also drains alot from your PSU. Pretty much the only upgrade I can see for now is maby an extra gig of ram. Having 2Gb can help in some programs and does help in newer games. The highest CPU for that motherboard is a Pentium D 840, but you should probably just keep the one you've got and spend the money later on when you want a new system. Mattwizz3 : Vista Home Basic A7N8X-E Deluxe 2.2GHz Sempron 2GB DDR400 GeForce 6800Ultra