Hi, I have a question about an slight upgrade. Right now I have a Athlon XP 1800+ with 512MB Ram. I think it's time for an upgrade but I don't want to spend too much right now since Vista is around the corner. So what I wanted to do is to get a new Mobo, CPU & Ram for around $300 to $400. Since I don't have a real copy of XP besides a start up cd I also need an OS included in that price. Now I have been looking @ mobo/cpu combos on pricewatch and I've decided on a Athlon 64 3400. This is the configuration that I have and the total is $316 without an OS. http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/4184/upgrade15kq.png http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/5190/upgrade22ky.png Do you guys think that's a fair price? And do you have any recommendations? Thanks for any help.

NO. Are you sure you want a S754 system? Nothing wrong with it, but it will have limited upgradibility. And AMD systems don't use DDR2 yet, so your RAM choice is incorrect. If S754 is what you want, consider a Sempron64 CPU...make sure to get one that has 256k L2, not 128k. Also, look for a board based on the nForce3 250 rather than the VIA chipset. Get 1GB (2 x 512MB) PC3200 CAS2.5 RAM. Another thing you *may* have to do is upgrade your power supply. Here's a few possibilities: CPU - Sempron64 2500+ ($61) or 2800+ ($75.50) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104251 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104245 Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-K8NS ($58+) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128259 http://us.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_Spec_GA-K8NS.htm RAM - Corsair 1GB (2 x 512MB) ($78+) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440 OS - XP Home ($95) XP Pro ($150) w/SP2 So if you were to go with the 2800+ & XP Pro, your total would be: 75.50 + 58 + 78 + 150 = $361.50 +/- ASUS A7N8X-X Athlon XP 1800+ 8.5 x 200MHz 1024MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7 Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB WinME/WinXP Pro SP2

If your not big into gaming just wait on microsoft vista,you'll probably need everything new then. You can lead a horse to water but,you can't make it google!!!

That's for sure! You can avoid many of these Windows problems with Linux. Linspire eases the transition for new users

Wow thanks for the help.:-) @jam Do you think I will see a (big) difference when going from 1800+ to 2800+? @robertj that why I don't want to spend too much, I'm kinda expecting Vista to make me rebuy ev everything. And yes I do play games, but I'm happy playing @ moderate resolutions with decent framerates.

I guess an alternative is not to buy Vista and keep on with what you have as it will still work? You can avoid many of these Windows problems with Linux. Linspire eases the transition for new users

If i to build a system now, i will get a dual core CPU.