Some help/suggestions to building a new system?

[fourtwenty]

1st post in years for me! Used to be a regular forum user but I lost interest on the technical side of computers and found better things to spend my money on than monthly upgrades.

So right now I am running an AMD 3000+ on an A7N8X-E Deluxe with 1GB ram and a 6600GT AGP video card. I've had the same board for the last 3 or 4 years, and have upgraded the CPU and video card several times along the way.

I'm completely out of the loop on all the new technology. Most of what I am reading says AMD sucks now so I guess I should go with an intel system (first time in 7 years!)

I play BF2 lots so I want something that will be an improvement over my current system, and can be upgraded as newer techynology becomes available (and drops in price).

I've always had good luck with ASUS so I would prefer to stay with them unless someone can give me a good reason to use something else.

Minimum mobo requirements:
onboard sound with optical out
atleast 4 USB, prefer more
SLI (maybe)

The parts I want to reuse are:

37GB Raptor, 320GB external for storage etc..
case (Aluminum ATX)
power supply (450W, good quality when I bought it)

Is it worth having (and using) SLI for gaming? Do you get better gaming performance from a single higher-end card, or 2 mid-range cards?

What I am looking for is some suggestions on a mid-range mobo, CPU, RAM and video card combination.

Thanks in advance!

I should add that I'm not against buying used parts to save a few bucks. The mobo will be brand new though.

 

[Soldat]

but because I've been out of the loop as well but now need to upgrade : )

 

[fourtwenty]

So I think I've narrowed it down to an ASUS P5K (not sure exactly which one yet) and a Core 2 duo in the 2.2 to 2.4Ghz range along with an 8800GT and 2GB of ram. Anyone see a problem with this set-up?

 

[Roguestar]

Have a look through the first two pages of this subforum, there are 65536BUFFEROVERFLOW threads here for system suggestions. A Core 2 Duo and P35 motherboard seems to be way to go at the moment. The 8800GT is a good start. 2GB of RAM should be standard for new builds. Stay away from SLI, it's a waste of money. A 400-500W PSU of good brand (Corsair, OCZ, Seasonic) will do. Most motherboards now have very good quality onboard sound with optical out - practically anything other than bargain-bin budget end in the last year or so. 4 USB ports is pretty much a given, too. 6 or 8 is normal, there are usually extra headers on the board itself too.