Ok, so I've got about ~$200 to work with, and I'm in need of some new(er) components to run just about any game anymore. Heres what I currently have:

Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 2800+ (~1.8GHz)
RAM: 1280MB RAM (1gb + 256mb sticks)
Monitor: Dell M993s (19")
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500 (256mb)

Note: I'm stuck on AGP with my current motherboard.

I'd say grab an athlon x2 4000 for about $55 USD, an AM2 mobo for about $50, and spend the rest on the video card. I would say the 8600 GT for about $85. That should give you a pretty nice boost. You'll probably have to buy DDR2 since I haven't seen any AM2 boards with DDR, but It's pretty cheap at $25 for 1gb and $40 for 2gb. I'm speaking of 2x512mb and 2x1gb because you should also get a motherboard with dual channel support for an extra added boost.

You really don't have much room for improvement on your motherboard as far as a CPU upgrade, and AGP won't give you that much better of a video card than you have now. I may have gone a bit over $200 but that would be a very nice mid-grade system. You'd even have a 64 bit processor, a DirectX 10 video card, and some sata ports. You'll also be able to upgrade to a faster x2 processor, or even the newer quad core athlons sometime later when you get the urge to upgrade again.

Depends on the company for the DDR2 ram. If you look around you can get good deals. I'm looking at the sales paper right now and see 2 1gigs for $29.99, 2 2gigs for $79.99, and 1 4gig for $79.99.

Also the sata ports you get from the hardware goat's talking about rock. Sata harddrives are so cheap. 3Gb/s, 160GB for $57.99, 320GB for $79.99, 1TB for $249.99

Alright, I have a few questions, I'm not well versed when it comes to hardware specifics.

My current power supply is 300watts, would I have to upgrade this too? Sorry I forgot to mention this one in the initial post.

Will I need more cooling? I only have one fan, but I'm not sure how it will handle all of the newer things

Do you absolutely have to upgrade to DDR2? It seems like a waste to get rid of 1gb+ ram like that.

I have 3 drives (1 optical, 2 hard drives) all on IDE, will the 4000 have enough for all of them? I'm not too keen on getting new hard drives as well.

I've never installed anything more complicated than a video card and ram, anything I should know before buying/installing?

Alright, I have a few questions, I'm not well versed when it comes to hardware specifics.

My current power supply is 300watts, would I have to upgrade this too? Sorry I forgot to mention this one in the initial post.

Will I need more cooling? I only have one fan, but I'm not sure how it will handle all of the newer things

Do you absolutely have to upgrade to DDR2? It seems like a waste to get rid of 1gb+ ram like that.

I have 3 drives (1 optical, 2 hard drives) all on IDE, will the 4000 have enough for all of them? I'm not too keen on getting new hard drives as well.

I've never installed anything more complicated than a video card and ram, anything I should know before buying/installing?

300 is a bit on the low end but should be sufficient, I would think. You may want to consider adding more fans if heat seems to be an issue after running the computer for awhile, but I wouldn't even worry about it unless heat proves to be a problem. Just monitor temps the first time you run demanding games/software. And yes, you must upgrade to DDR2. DDR2 is not backwards compatible with DDR. I don't quite understand your last question but just make sure the motherboard you choose has enough IDE headers for your drives.

Now's a good time for upgradins. RAM is ridiculously cheap right now. You can pick up 2GB of dual channel DDR2 Corsair RAM for like $30-40 (Corsair is a great company too, fantastic customer support and warranty). The 8000 series of nVidia cards is seeing major price drops too because they are preparing to unveil the 9000 series in full (I think only the 9600 is available atm). Since you've only got $200, you won't be able to grab a more beastly card like the 8800 GT though, seeing as they are about $200 by themselves and your mobo likely doesn't have PCI-E, judging by your current components.

goat's suggestions are sound, but at the same time I can't help but feeling like you should wait just a little more until you can afford to spend around 400-500, you'll just be able to do so much more with it. That 300w PSU is pretty weak. I ran a system with a Radeon x800 and Athlon 64 3200+, 1 HDD and 1 Optical Drive, and one fan with a 240w PSU, but I don't suggest it. Having at least 400-500w makes me much more comfortable, but this is really just personal opinion, and a weak one at that, I don't have any NUMBERS to back me up. It just leaves more room for upgrading and less chance of running into lack of power issues.

As far as heat is concerned: if you were to get the 8600 GT, I wouldn't be too worried. They don't run overhot or anything. Provided you've got decent airflow (ie not of those massive IDE cables blocking everything) and a good working heatsink on your CPU, you should be fine.

Welcome to the world of PC upgrading... where buying one new component only makes you realize how much worse everything else in your system is.

Alright, I have a few questions, I'm not well versed when it comes to hardware specifics.

My current power supply is 300watts, would I have to upgrade this too? Sorry I forgot to mention this one in the initial post.

300 will be enough, but your next CPU/Video upgrade should include a new power supply for sure.

Will I need more cooling? I only have one fan, but I'm not sure how it will handle all of the newer things

Cooling should be fine as long as you're not overclocking, or already have a heating issue.

Do you absolutely have to upgrade to DDR2? It seems like a waste to get rid of 1gb+ ram like that.

To go to AM2 yea, you pretty much have to get DDR2, but if you got a 939 board you wouldn't be able to get a much higher x2 than the 4800, and no future quad core support. Also, you could get more than just 1gb to rationalize buying different ram. And then you would have a mobo+processor+video+ram to make an additional PC with, if you wanted. Maybe even sell it to a friend to make back some of that upgrade money.

I have 3 drives (1 optical, 2 hard drives) all on IDE, will the 4000 have enough for all of them? I'm not too keen on getting new hard drives as well.

Just about all motherboards today come with 2 IDE channels (2 devices per-channel) so it shouldn't be a problem.

I've never installed anything more complicated than a video card and ram, anything I should know before buying/installing?

Everything pretty much pops into place or screws in. The motherboard mounts to the case with screws, CPU is placed in the slot, and the heatsink placed and secured on top of it, power cords snap into the power plugs, IDE cables pop into their ports, RAM locks into the slots, connections from the front of the case go to the corresponding "jumpers" on the motherboard (tells you in the manual, if not on the mobo itself), and the power supply and PCIE/PCI cards slide in and are attached to the case with screws. You might have to reinstall windows, but that's all it takes!

Everything pretty much pops into place or screws in. The motherboard mounts to the case with screws, CPU is placed in the slot, and the heatsink placed and secured on top of it, power cords snap into the power plugs, IDE cables pop into their ports, RAM locks into the slots, connections from the front of the case go to the corresponding "jumpers" on the motherboard (tells you in the manual, if not on the mobo itself), and the power supply and PCIE/PCI cards slide in and are attached to the case with screws. You might have to reinstall windows, but that's all it takes!

Hmm, I was told you absolutely had to reformat your hard drive or it just goes nuts, things like not booting, at all. Or crashing randomly, etc. I just want to get things straight before I buy, even though I might take Rowain's advice and save up some more.

processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103732
mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135074
ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211165
video: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130062

all that is going to come to 212.96 + shipping

Hmm, I was told you absolutely had to reformat your hard drive or it just goes nuts, things like not booting, at all. Or crashing randomly, etc. I just want to get things straight before I buy, even though I might take Rowain's advice and save up some more.

Whoever told you that is bullshitting you. Worst you'll have to do is reinstall your OS. IDE drives are read the same by all motherboards out there, it's a standard that means your data on motherboard X will come out the same on motherboard Y. Windows does not do too well with a different motherboard than it was installed on, however. This is remedied by reinstalling it, which means all your data files and program files are still safe, but you will have to reinstall all your drivers and most of your programs to get them working again with the new install of windows.

I, too, would wait till you had around $500 like rowain said, so you can get the buff 8800 GT and a faster proc. Wish I could suggest getting just the video or just the cpu+mobo right now, and the rest later, but you need PCIE for the video, and if you get a new cpu+mobo with PCIE you won't be able to use your old card (or your old ram if you went AM2).

EDIT: Smoothy Oakland, the 8600 GTs are just as cheap as the 7600 GTs, but around twice as powerful.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150265

I just got rid of my 8600 GT's, and I would never recommend them to anyone.

Bob is just trying to find a budget gaming computer, so it's up to him (also xfx is terrible)

The 8600 is a much better card than the 7600 series, and their prices are similar for a lot of the different companies selling them, and not just xfx. The 8600 is easily the best economy card under the 8800 series that isn't from ATI. Though I think everyone should grab an 8800, if he only has so much to spend, I stand by recommending the 8600 as it is the best bang-for-your-buck card currently out there. What complaint do you have against it besides it being inadequate in comparison to the faster cards?

well, the whole 8600 series is not 100% compatible with SLI, they're really buggy, and they don't have a very long life span. ( one of mine died after about 6 months )

but, like I said before if bjb wants to pay the extra dollar for performance it's up to him.

If he's getting it for a budget PC he wouldn't have to worry about sli, and some brands are more durable than others so you can't rely on personal experience with a brand/model or two to tell you how all incarnations of the card work.