What should I upgrade?

[michaelb15]

my current system specs are
ive got a dualcore Pentium D 820 2.8ghz (@3.01 Ghz)
AsRock 4coreDual VSTA
2 gigs DDR2 SDRAM@ 333 mhz
Geforce 8600 GT (512 mb ram) Overclocked about 10%<--- thats PCI express
a dvd burner
3 hdds (two 80 gb, and one 320gb) (main hdd is SATA)
and a 550 watt PSU

im thinking about getting a nvidia GTS 250 which is around 100$ I think.

Or I could save up a lil more and keep my current gfx card, and get a new Mobo, CPU and new DDR3 ram.

Im not too familiur with the newer CPU's, DDR3, or newer mobo's, so if sombody can give me some assistance before I go spend $400 on a new setup, id really like to get an idea of whats out there, and what is the best bang for the budget I have.

Ive used intel all my life, and im thinking of sticking with it,  but if AMD has more bang for the buck id be willing to change over.

one of the questions that I have is about newer mobos supporting IDE drives. I only have 1 SATA drive, and I would like to keep the other 2 IDE drives if possible.

But if somebody can give me a hand with choosing the right hardware id be very thankful.

[RaptorF22]

Well, it looks like your GPU could probably use a upgrade a little more, although if I were you I'd wait and see what someone with more experience than me says. The GTS250 will require an extra 6-pin power cable, you'll have to check if your power supply has one.

Hope this helps! 

[Slotback]

Or I could save up a lil more and keep my current gfx card, and get a new Mobo, CPU and new DDR3 ram.

This. Your computer is too out of date that, in my opinion, if you want a really good experience then you should start over... but you can keep the power supply, case, CD-ROM if you want.

Core i5 2300
4gb DDR3-1333
cheap motherboard
GTX 550-Ti
cheap case
SeaSonic S12II 520 Bronze 520W

Maybe $550 all up not including CD-ROM, Windows.. Preferably something faster, but I wouldn't go anything slower than that because then you're paying for something that will be left behind soon.

[michaelb15]

Or I could save up a lil more and keep my current gfx card, and get a new Mobo, CPU and new DDR3 ram.

This. Your computer is too out of date that, in my opinion, if you want a really good experience then you should start over... but you can keep the power supply, case, CD-ROM if you want.

Core i5 2300
4gb DDR3-1333
cheap motherboard
GTX 550-Ti
cheap case
SeaSonic S12II 520 Bronze 520W

Maybe $550 all up not including CD-ROM, Windows.. Preferably something faster, but I wouldn't go anything slower than that because then you're paying for something that will be left behind soon.

well thats basicly what I ment by getting a new CPU, mobo, and RAM... 

my current case is the normal large size, and I have a 550 watt PSU already. (which is equivilent or bigger then 520W)

What about an i7? are thy any better?

[Slotback]

What I posted above would be my minimum recommendation.

Only bother with the second generation Core i-series quad core processors (i.e. Core i5-2300/2400/2500 / Core i7-2600) that use socket 1155. At the moment there is only one i7 that fits this description, the i7-2600. It however, is only marginally faster than the i5-2500 for FSX. Try to get the 2500, the 2600 if you have cash. If you want overclocking, get the 'K' unlocked versions of the 2500 and 2600 respectively.

You can keep the case if you want. Only keep the power supply if it was a decent 550 watt power supply. Some 550 watt power supplies are inferior to other 400 watt power supplies and don't have any hope of running a system a good 550 watt power supply could.