Its time for me to upgrade my computer. My old parts that I want to replace are:

AMD 3000+
ASUS mobo
Radeon 9550SE
1 gig DDR1 RAM (got another gig that I can't use because a peculiar hardware issue and only having two DIMMs)


What I want is something more futureproofed, like a Core 2 Duo setup with 2+ gigs of DDR2 RAM and a PCI-e card. I don't do much gaming, but there might be games in the future that I want to play without having to resort to 640x480.

I also want a low-ish power consumption because electricity is really really expensive atm.

Any suggestions?

You want to upgrade on the possibility that you may want to play future games? If that is correct, just wait until those games come out. Hardware will be cheaper and faster.

name brand power supplies will be more efficient since electricity is an issue. for most modern video cards i think >600w is the "norm"

1) Wait for legit reviews on the R600 to come out, and wait for it to drop
2) Low power and high specs are not compatible.

And "name brand" doesn't imply that they're good or efficient--most power supplies vary wildly from one to the other.

I've already got an efficient Arctic Cooling PSU, and I meant low-ish as in non-SLI, non-dual slot graphics cards i.e. really unnecessary power use (as I have no need for 200 fps in Battlefield 2 or whatever flavor of the month shooter).
An AMD EE processor or intel C2D is just fine, power consumption-wise.

I do use a lot of processor- and RAM-heavy applications such as EVE Online, Photoshop, Painter etc. so I need an upgrade already. My graphics card is really a bottleneck, as I can't even play Morrowind in 1024x768 without severe performance drops in some areas.

I could just blow $100+ on a new AGP card, but thats just money in the lake as soon as I want a new processor.

Ah, ok.

Morrowind is..weird, as far as performance goes. I'm running a P4 3Ghz / 1.5Gb DDR2 and a 256mb X800XL and I run Oblivion in 1680x1050 -- have you considered a moderate upgrade to hold you off for a while? I think I paid $80 for my X800XL (used). You do have a point saying you won't be able to use it when you upgrade, but you could sell the old 'core' as a combo setup also..

Just trying to give you other options.

Edit: You can find used 6600GT AGP cards for 60 bucks. Not a powerhouse, but a far cry from a 9550se.

If you want to sell some of that DDR, let me know..my uncle's system (2 DIMMs) is struggling along with 512mb.