About to upgrade my desktop. Give me some ideas

Well, I'm going to be upgrading my desktop in the next week or two. For now I'm going to upgrade the MOBO, Processor, and case. Here's what I'm thinking.

MOBO - MSI "K8N Neo2 Platinum" NVIDIA nForce3 ULTRA Chipset
CPU - AMD Athlon 64 3500+, 512K, L2 Cache, Socket 939
Case - Cooler Master CM Stacker Full-Tower CASE
Total: $683.00

I know PCI-E is available, but I won't put down that kind of money on a new technology. My next upgrades will be to PCI-E. The Price vs. Performance just isn't there. I also plan on upgrading my video card, but that will come after I get switched to a 64 bit platform. Let me know what everyone thinks.

Edit: I will also be selling the following on Ebay.
http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=40994
Intel P4 3.4C Ghz "Northwood" processor
Asus P4P800 Deluxe Motherboard
Antec PlusView1000AMG Case

If anyone wan't to make an offer before I list them, PM me. I'm not looking to make a profit, just help take the sting out of the $700.00 I'm about to spend.

Just ordered the following:

Cooler Master CM Stacker Full-Tower CASE

MSI "K8N Neo2 Platinum" NVIDIA nForce3 ULTRA Chipset Motherboard

AMD Athlon 64 3500+, 512K, L2 Cache, 939 Pin

I'm going to order a Geforce 6800 Ultra Card when they get back in stock at some of the reputable retailers.

I was actually thinking about doing a "Do it yourself" thread w/ pics. Would that help anyone? If so, let me know.

Got it all put together. WOW. This thing is quick vs. the intel setup I had before. Now if I can just get a 6800 Ultra card, I'll be set.

Yeah, I'll probably have to wait a couple weeks at least. Oh well, my 9800XT will do till then.

Well, I just returned the BFG 6800 GT OC I bought from Best Buy. Very cheap cooling, and it wouldn't even hit Ultra speeds. I was going to get an ATI X800XT Platinum Edition, but those are non-existent. People are selling a couple on Ebay. One guy want's $830.00!! So now I'm on the hunt for a Evga or BFG 6800 Ultra or the X800XT PE edition. If anyone sees any available at a REPUTABLE and WELL KNOW site, hit me with a PM.

Also, I found this article on why the high end cards are so hard to get. http://www.gamers-depot.com/ed/vid_avail/001.htm

I had a few bugs early on, but got them ironed out a couple weeks ago. I just found a place that has the BFG 6800Ultra OC in stock, so I think I'm gonna get that. Now I'm looking for the BEST memory. I'm gonna get 2 x 512 MB sticks for now, and then another gig in a couple weeks. I'm gonna research it of course, but opinions on the absolute fastest memory would help.

As far as the CM Stacker, I get my new drives tomorrow, and I'll post some pics. I think they'll change your mind. Most of the pics on the net show it with mismatched drives. Everything on mine is black, and it looks sweet IMO.

Deutch, pics wouldn't really help that much. You really gotta get your hands dirty to learn how to build computers. And it can be a MAJOR pain the the a$$. One wrong setting, and the thing won't boot. Touch one thing wrong, and you can fry it. It's not a good idea to start out on a system with expensive components either. I'll make you the same offer as Captain Al, you buy the parts, ship them to me, and I'll build it and ship it to you. Or, send me the money, and I'll get the parts, build it, then send it to you. I won't even charge you for labor, like I do when I build computers for regular customers. Call it the "Notebook Forums" discount. But, like him, I'm not gonna put up the funds myself. Especially since you change your mind so much. I'll even give you my phone number so you can call and talk it over with me.

BUT, if that won't work for you, all I can do is wish you luck with the build. Offering to build it for free is the most I can do for you.

Well, I've done some more research on the memory issue. Looks like A64 systems are very pick about their memory. So I've decided to go with Crucial Ballistix PC-3200 memory. It's said to be one of the best for A64 systems. It is has a very low CAS latency.

Well, the place that I found that had the BFG 6800Ultra in stock apparently didn't really have it. I emailed them last night to verify they had them in stock, and they immediately updated their website to "Out of Stock". The site was ZipZoomFly. I guess I'm going to be waiting a while on a new video card...

I just orderd a Gig of Crucial Ballistix memory. It's supposed to be the fastest and most stable memory for the Athlon64 based systems. I also got my new CDRW and DVDRW in. Only thing left is the new graphics card, and I'll be done. I'll post pics and benchmarks once I get everything in.

Some pics. I'll do a full spread when I get the new memory and graphics card.