[patrickp]

Originally Posted by jamesebaker

So you would recommend selling the RAM rather than buying 1Gb and keeping the 512Mb or is that just instead of adding another 512Mb to my existing one? I presume also that the type of RAM may not be right i.e. it may not be 3200 DDR RAM (whatever the 3200 bit means!).

Whatever RAM you get, it's likely the motherboard you get for your new processor will have dual channel memory capability: this doubles the speed (or bandwidth) of your memory. Whatever memory you get, you want to have two sticks of the same value and specs: easiest is always to get two of the same model; this is necessary to take advantage of the dual channel option.

So your options here are to get another 512MB stick identical to the one you have, get two new 512MB sticks if you can't match the old one, or get two 1GB sticks if you can run to that. However, whatever you buy, it's worth getting good quality memory as lower grade stuff may not work well with dual channel.

Originally Posted by jamesebaker

Also, is AGP dead as far as graphics cards are concerned and is PCI Express the way forward?

If you're buying all new kit, yes. PCI Express is capable of faster data transfers than AGP, but nothing is making use of this ATM: in the future it will, and it would be as well to be prepared. If you're buying a new mobo, there's no reason not to go for PCI Express, and, in fact, I believe PCI-E cards tend to be cheaper than the equivalent AGP ones.

Originally Posted by jamesebaker

And what is the current debate regarding nvidia v radeon?

I'd say whichever you prefer. Depends what you want to do with your system - it also makes a difference what level card you want to go for. ATI fanboys will tell you ATI and NVidia fanboys NVidia - they're both good.

Originally Posted by jamesebaker

Finally is athlon 64 definitely the way to go and steer clear of intel?

It seems to be the first thing AMD have produced that clearly upstages the Intel equivalents. Only wish I could afford to go that route myself...