New Video Card or New setup?

[blinky]

Hi guys,

It's been a while since I've been here so I needed to re-register

Anyway my 128Mb 9800Pro died today (I thought it was on it way out. System crashed, wouldn't POST with the card in, swapped it for my spare 9600Pro and it works fine. Done all the usual checks).

My current setup

P4 2.4B @ 3.06GHz (170MHz FSB)
1Gb RAM (4x256Mb PC3200 @ 170/340)
MSI 865Neo2 FI2SR (non-Prescott but has PAT version)
Audigy 2 Platinum
WD 80Gb JD (Primary Master) - all HD 7200rpm
WD 120Gb JB (SATA)
Samsung 160Gb (SATA)
Liteon 166S DVD (Primary Slave)
Liteon 52x CD-RW (Secondary Slave)
NEC2500 DVDRW (Secondary Master)
Windows XP SP2

In general the system is stable and fast enough for my needs but obviously I'm in need of a new graphics card which leaves me in a slight quandry.
From what I've read and my gfx card budget the obvious choice is a Nvidia 6600GT 128Mb card. The decision I'm struggling with is do I buy an AGP version or do I take the opportunity to ditch the mobo, processor and possibly memory and switch to AMD64 and PCI-Express? Would I gain much by doing a switch (other than aggro)? On the other hand I don't want to spend money on a graphics card and then have to replace it along with the motherboard and processor in say 6 to 12 months.

Are Nvidia still planning to continue making the NForce3 chipset for a reasonable amount of time? I wasn't sure if I've read that they'd switched production to NForce4 exclusively.
PS. I have no bias either way towards Intel / AMD, although I am less than impressed with the Prescotts.

 

[KoolDrew]

Do you overclock? If you do you could get a 3200+, XP-120 w/ Panaflo 120mm fan (or Vantec tornado if you can tolerate the noise), DFI NF4 mobo and a Leadtek 6600GT. That would overclock very well. I have seen overclocks to 2.6GHz so 2.4GHz should easily be reached.

What RAM do you have BTW? Also a 6600GT is not a big upgrade from a 9800 Pro.

 

[blinky]

Do you overclock?

P4 2.4 (533 Bus)@ 3.06 (680 Bus)..... yes, I've been overclocking for years. It influences my buying choices.

What RAM do you have BTW?

2 x 256Mb Cube/Dane-Elec PC3200 (Infineon chips)
2x 256Mb Generic PC3200 (on offer at PC World last year, Infineon chips)

Also a 6600GT is not a big upgrade from a 9800 Pro

True, but my 9800Pro is an ex-gfx card, it has ceased to be....

My spare 9600Pro won't really cut it at 1280x1024

My PSU is a Hiper Type R 480W (true) (520W Max load) which has a funky 20/24 Pin ATX connector (the 4 extra pins detach). I recently replaced my HEC 425W as my 5V rail was a bit low.