Upgrading my CPU, help?

[nod25]

Ok, so, I've just recently gotten my computer shipped from home to me and its pretty old, so I want to upgrade it with some better hardware. I wanted to start first and for most with my Processor, RAM, and Graphics Card.

My motherboard is: MSI K7N2-L ATX NFORCE2 AGP8X DDR 5PCI ATA133

I currently have in my machine:
-Processor: AMD ATHLON XP 3000+ 512K 333FSB BARTON

-RAM: CORSAIR PC3000 CAS2 512MB DDR CMX512-3000C2PT

-Graphics Card: ATI RADEON 9700 PRO

I don't know an extreme amount about individual parts, but I do know basic stuff here and there to get by. I wanted to get the best with my money, but I want to go as fast and high quality as I can with the parts. Can you guys run the basics by me with how I should go about choosing a new Processor, RAM, and Graphics Card for my machine? What should I look for compatibility wise? How do I know what's what? etc

THANKYOU!

 

[raybay]

You cannot improve by much over what you have, without changing the board.

 

[nod25]

So I'll look into possibly buying a better mobo so that I can then push my limits with the RAM, Video Card, and Processor. Money isn't a serious issue, as long as it's not insane. What are some of the high end good name Mobo's out on the market now, and being a gamer, what should I really look for?

 

[raybay]

www.tomshardware.com and www.anandtech.com have new reviews every month on motherboards, video cards, and other components. That is a good place to start. Then come back here to query the members of this forum for their knowledge and experience. Many times, new reviews need the benefit of experience and the reports of failures... as some ASUS boards have had a 15%+ failure rate.
Also, there are a number of locations on this forum where you can search for valuable recommendations on a variety of boards.
The problem usually is that websites and magazines don't have the experience of the failures, and a person who bought an eVGA doesn't know that another board might have done the job more cheaply.
Bottom line: take some time researching, then querying.
Don't forget that a board search also requires a power supply recommendation, and the video card.

 

[Tedster]

The max CPU you can put in an MSI K7N2 is an Athlon XP 3200+

It's still a very good motherboard, although it's getting a little old. I have a K7N2 Delta 2 platinum myself.

The board can handle 3 sticks of ram in multichannel. I recommend going dual channel with 2 sticks of 1 gb apiece. DDR 400 PC 3200 RAM. Crucial and corsair are both good. Do NOT overclock your ram. This board will cook ram.

You can put a top of the line AGP card in the system, but if you're going to do all these additions it would be far better to get a newer system.