Not sure where to turn to

[shaneinsane]

Hey everyone I'm planning to upgrade my current PC rig. I strictly game on it at resolutions as high as 1680x1050 that's about all I do is game. In the process of upgrading I need some opinions on any ideas.

My current rig contains

asus p5k se Motherboard

core 2 duo e6750 overclocked at 3.2 GHz

evga 9600 gt 512mb videocard

2gb(2x1) ddr2 800 mhz ram

500 watts cooler master extreme psu

windows xp

Now as of right now I'm going to get my self a new case because the one I have is cheap and parts broke off. so I was considering the antec 900 it has great airflow and should keep my system cool.

Also I'm not sure if I should stick to my motherboard and its one video card slot, Or should I go to sli or crossfire I have been thinking about it for awhile now. I have heard about the new x58 boards with the 1375 socket and the i7 cpu's I was thinking to my self would it be better to save money.

also I was going to upgrade to windows vista 64 bit and get a corsair 750 or 1000 watts psu. I always want to run the latest games and be future proof and I'm not sure if I should add another 2 gigs if I notice the newer boards have ddr3 I'm just confused. ;(

If any one has advice id greatly appreciate it thank you again.

[azzey]

I just bought an Antec P182 from NCIX.com in Canada for $153.39 and I absolutely love everything about it. It have extremely good airflow, even with the front door closed, and it the highest quality case I have ever used in a build. I am very happy with it.

[alfroogy]

It all depends on your budget really.
The Antec 900 is a really nice case for it's price
An alternative in that price range is the Coolermaster cm690.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137
If you are willing to spend a bit more the Coolermaster HAF is fantastic as long as you don't plan on lugging it around as I find mine quite heavy.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160

I also personally don't believe crossfire and sli are worth it for the gains you get compared to the amount of money you spend getting a second card. Though this is not always the case. I also believe the scaling is getting better but I'm not 100% certain.

If you want to be future proof then get the I7. Though personally I would wait a while for AMD to announce their deneb CPUs as you will probably see substantial price drops from Intel at this point.

I would also suggest upgrading to Vista 64 and throwing 2 more gigs in there. Though if you going to upgrade your mobo you going to have to cross over to ddr3. A 750-1000w PSU is also nice because it gives you quite a lot of room for future upgrades especially if you plan on throwing a power hungry graphics card in there. Which if you want to max out all settings on 1680x1050 you are going to have to because in my opinion the 9600 just doesn't cut it.