What should I upgrade to?

[Geezer57]

Yes, it's a 939 chip, but I can get a new 3800+ 939 for less than $100 and a x1950pro 256MB for about $240 or a 512MB version for $290.
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.. anyone think that the 3800+ would be able to relieve the CPU bottleneck any better than my current 3200+? Or would the difference be insignificant with ddr1 and the older mobo?

You're only talking a 400mhz speed difference between those two processors, so I doubt you'd see more than a few FPS gain in games. Normally, you could easily overclock that much while retaining your current CPU, at no additional expense.

So I'd pass on the CPU upgrade, unless you'd consider going for a dual-core - but there the gain is mostly seen when multi-tasking. Few games show a real benefit, and a further drawback is that Socket 939 dual-cores seem to be going up in price, now that they're no longer current production.

The graphics card upgrade, however, might let you stretch you current system's life by long enough to make it worth while. Either a GeForce 7600GT or the (better) x1950 Pro sound good to me.

P.S. Regarding the DDR1 vs. DDR2 issue: when the AM2 motherboards first came out, most tests showed only very small performance gains from the switch to DDR2. AMD mostly made the move because Intel had already completely switched over, the memory manufacturers were switching their fabs over and DDR1 would eventually become less available, and AMD was in jeopardy of losing market share if they forced their customers to keep using the old tech.