upgradability questions regarding my rig

[terminator02]

I know I went overboard with my system, but I am overworked, and decided to splurge on my system. I went with the following specs:
fx-55 processor
2gig corsair extra low latency ram
2 74 gig raptor HDs
2 6800 Ultras
Asus nforce4 motherboard
pcp&c 510 express

That pretty much covers the basics. I have air cooling and my system runs pretty hot (obviously) but my question is more in regards to the upgradability of this system. Will I run into difficulty when wanting to upgrade to 512mb cards or better processors in the future because my setup is already running super hot? Or will power consumption go down with the future graphics cards because they will be released on 90nm processes? I know there is no such thing as a future proof PC, but I am looking for opinions as to how long this system can last as a viable GAMING machine given that I would be willing to make simple upgrades down the road (graphics card, maybe a new processor). thanks

 

[HvyMtl]

As for the new vid cards when they show up - simply that is an unknown - true they may be of a smaller process - but they will also be clocked higher - will the higher clock speed create more heat than the benefit of the core shrink cooling effect can handle? Too early to tell - wont know until the next gen cards rear their ugly pre-manufacture tests.
Perhaps a hard look at your case may be beneficial - what is it? how many cooling fans? Would modding the case by adding blow holes or cooling fans aid in cooling? Better airflow fan grills? Would a better cpu heatsink or vid card aftermarket heatsink help?
As for a gaming machine - this thing should last a good long time, barring anything truely amazing in video graphics (like true realism) rears its head.
From what I know about the present graphics cards (that basically 9500 pro/9600pro series cards are still capable (as in can run HL2/D3 decently) cards and they are years old) my estimation is at least 2-3 years of good use before upgrading will become important.
Besides, from what I gather about the dual core cpus, they will not be as good at gaming as a single core - until the software can be re-written to take them into consideration (whenever a new core comes out with new language SSEI, MMX, etc. it usually took a 6-8 month delay before say 20% or more of the software was able to benefit - dual core is much harder than mere extensions - the OS has to be more compatible too - do expect some big delays - remember XP-64 was supposed to be out last year... all of this will prolong your system's life.)