Hi there,

I just stumbled across this lovely site so sorry if I am breaking any rules. I am in need of a system overhaul as I'm a heavy gamer that isn't getting enough bang for his buck with his rig anymore.

I live in Canada so any recommendations that people give, could you please give me a Canadian quote, as well as a link to a Canadian site?

My current rig is as follows...

CPU = AMD 64 3500+
Motherboard = ASUS A8N-SLi Deluxe
Memory = 2048 Kingston DDR Ram
Video Card = BFG 7950 GX2
Power Supply = Ultra XFinity 500WATT (Yea I know...)

My price MAX is 1000.00 CDN. I need to upgrade my rig into something worthy of playing the latest games semi-well.

Can it be done!? If so, please give me some ideas for an upgrade!

Remember! I'm Canadian!

Well hello
a few questions first,
what memory? (speed, CL)
what kind of cooling do you have?

and finally, ,can you perhaps sell you current rig? or parts of it?
that should upgrade your budget

Keep your computer case and psu, sell your mobo, gpu, memory, and proc!
You will receive extra cash from 'em and increase your budget on buying the components.

I assume you are planning to keep your hdd, soundcard (if you have a special one), monitor, keyboard, mouse, OS, and other peripherals.

I assume that you are planning on only 1 GPU configuration.
Take a look at my system (on my signature) just as an opinion, it is designed as a mid-ranged overall system. It costs a bit over 1000 euro ($1500) but I have to buy everything including monitor, keyboard, mouse, case, psu, and hdd.
You can buy much better components than the ones that I have bought because I live in germany, and things are way more expensive than in USA and perhaps still more expensive than in canada and since you already have some of the needed components and because you will receive extra bucks by selling your old components.

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicat [...] CatId=2406

Here is an example of what you can get for 756.99 Canandian,
Intel DX38BT motherboard
Intel C2Q Q9300 2.5Ghz cpu
2 gig kit (2x1gig) PC10600 DDR3 memory

Tiger Direct ships to Canada, check out their site, they have a lot of bundles similar to this.
A lot of people don't like to deal with Tiger Direct. I and many I know have never had a problem what-so-ever with them. It's up to you. Their prices are inline with just about anyone else. Just using them as an example....this is their Canadian Website.

Main thing you want is a Intel Quad core and overclock it, or if not into overclocking get a e8400 or e8500 dual core, 2 or more gig of memory, and a X38 motherboard.
That's my 2 cents.

Put your video card back in for now, wait until the newest cards from ATI and Nvidia hit the shelves in a few weeks, and see how they do. They will either be impressive and you will just have to have one, or they will at least cause the price of current cards to drop a little. It you go with the latter and get a current card, get a 9800GX2 for an all out high res killer, or an 8800GTS 512 card for a really strong performer at a decent price.

Sorry, can't help you with Canadian stores. Here is my propsed build for you:

EVGA 512-P3-N841-AR GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

CORSAIR CMPSU-620HX 620W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 Power Supply - Retail

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail

CORSAIR XMS2 DHX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C4DHX - Retail

Seagate SATA Hard disk of your choice

Samsung SH-203B or N

Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L

Antec 900 case