Alright, I finally accumulated enough money to upgrade my computer but I could use some advice on what kind of configurations I should get that's within my budget.

Here is the rundown on what I want:

• Budget: 500 to 700 dollars. I'm willing to go as high as 800 but I prefer something in the 500 dollar range if possible.

• Performance over quality: I really don't care to have the most cutting edge computer on the planet. I just want a computer that would run most games in the past few years with good performance with at least 60 fps, even if the graphics aren't at the highest settings.
  
  I'm using Crysis' recommended system requirements as a set of guidelines for what computer parts to get but I don't really care if I run a game such as that at medium settings as I just want something that's fast rather than "OMG beautiful!". I've been playing games like Guild Wars with a FPS of 20-30 fps for TOO LONG. I want something faster dammit

• CPU: I'm thinking of getting an Intel processor, either a core duo or a core quad. According to the system requirements for Crysis which I'm using as a guideline I prefer the CPU to be at least 2.2 Ghz if not more.

• Motherboard: No preference on brand as long as its compatible with my CPU choice. I would prefer to get one that has two IDE slots since my current hard drive is IDE and my two optical drives and both IDE as well but I will not limit myself to just two slots.

• RAM: whatever is compatible with the motherboard. Memory range of about 2 to 4 GBs.

• Video Card: Geforce 8 series (I could go 9 but I don't really see the need for one yet). I'm not sure whether I should get a 8400, 8600, or 8800. 8800 GTS seems to be the best from what I've heard so I might go with that.

• hard drive: A SATA HDD with at least 160 GBs. I rarely use up my hard drive space (I'm not into music so its not like I have loads of MP3s floating around). My current one is an IDE so I'm thinking of getting an enclosure that would allow it to connect via USB.

• OS: I plan to stick with XP for now as I see no need to get Vista at the moment. I would still prefer to use my current hard drive as the boot drive with XP on it. I have no idea how one would image a hard drive from one to another so if anyone knows how I could do that, please let me know!

• Power supply: I think my current supply is ok for now but if I need more power, I'll consider a new power supply. I think my current one is about 450 watts. I'll have to double check on that later to be sure.

• Sound card: My current one is 8 years and still kicking! I have no problems with it so far (its a sound blaster live! card) and I see no real need to upgrade it unless it starts to break down so I hold off on that for now.

I'm thinking of making all my purchases with newegg.com but I would really like to buy these parts from a website that offers refunds since I've had a history of parts coming in that are either DoA, defective, or not compatible. RMAing is a pain in the butt when I rather have my money back!

don't have time to config something for you right now, but you can use your current hard drive and install in the new system. just boot from the xp cd and do a repair install. all your apps and data will still be there when it is done.

Look into this stuff:

Intel E8200 (or higher, depending on how your budget works out)

GF8 8800GTS 512MB (make sure it's 512MB and the g92 chipset. There was a first edition which isn't nearly as good)

You'll have a hard time finding a mobo with 2 IDE slots, I can tell you that now. I had to switch to SATA DVD Burner because mine only had 1.

2GB of RAM should suffice regardless. Make sure you get DDR2, DDR3 is a massive waste of money.

Double check your PSU, because if it's a crappy brand it probably won't be enough. Also see if it has SATA power plugs in it. If it doesn't you'll need to get a Molex to SATA power adapter. New PSUs will have these so don't worry about it if you buy a new one.

Hard drives are dirt cheap. The higher you go, the lower the $/GB ratio, which means more for your money. I did the math recently, a 750GB drive has the lowest ratio with a crazy 17 cents/GB.

Thanks Matty, I'll look into those suggestions.

8800 GT.
I lurve mine, But that could also be because i found a BFG OC version on sale so i basicly got the OC part for free.

So, if I were to connect my old hard drive via IDE to my computer using a new SATA hard drive, I can just use the XP CD to tell the computer to reinstall via repair install from the old hard drive to the new hard drive and everything (including the registry for my applications) will be moved to the new hard drive? Is that what you're saying or does that only more the OS over and I would still have to reinstall my applications on the new hard drive? I ask this because I'm not sure I want to reinstall my applications considering that I'm not sure where I placed my serial keys for all of them.

Also, is there a huge difference between the Geforce 8800 GT and the Geforce 8800 GTS? I ask this because new egg is offering a combo deal in which I can save up nearly 100 bucks for the GT over the GTS.

I wouldn't be too sure that the repair install will work like that. I would imagine that XP wouldn't like it if almost all of the hardware in the computer has changed. I've never had ANY luck with keeping my XP install and doing major upgrades. I'd recommend just do a format :/

You want the 8800GTS, you'll need to format with a motherboard change (it's inevitable).

Not really. There are guides on how to assure it doesn't require a format or even a repair install.

Although I didn't even need to do that. I went from an AMD FX-55 with an nvidia mobo to an Intel E6700 with an intel mobo and it only bugged me for a reboot.

repair install will work, i do it all the time in my shop. you can get bootable ghost on a cd, clone the old drive to the new sata drive, and do a repair install. it's a hell of a lot easier than trying to reinstall all your apps.

especially when i'm doing it for my customers who don't have the discs for half the stuff on there...

How exactly do you "ghost" a drive? Would I need specialize software to pull that off and if so, where can I get it and how do I do it?