Upgrade

[Aristocrat]

Ok, after saving up for the last 2 months for a new computer I then proceeded to spend the money on gear for my home gym, and now feel that I lack the necessary willpower to save up again before I play some new games (I am looking at Stalker here).
So, due to the fact that my budget is now $1000 (Australian), and that I no longer care to have the most cutting edge rig on this planet, I have come up with the following cheap and dirty upgrade and want opinions.

1. Cpu: CPU/Processor AMD S939 Dual Core Opteron 180 (Box) - $407

2. Video Card: Video Card PCI-e (nV) 8800GTS 640MB Leadtek (500/1600GHz) - $583

I have 1gb of ram and don't really want to buy any more ddr400 ram, though I can if it means I put off buying a complete new system for another year, $300-$400 is a lot better than $3000-$4000 after all.

So my question is this, will this system, in your opinion, possibly with 2gb of ram down the line (when Crysis hits shelves perhaps), give me high to ultra settings in most games?
Now before someone jumps on me (Shaun maybe ) I know that a definite answer is impossible, I just want some educated guesses.

On the cpu, it is basically a 4600-4800 X2 repackaged as an Opteron.

[UnderdawgIV]

Yes. You will coast on max settings in most if not all games at 1680x1050/1600x1200. Better look into overclocking that Opteron.

I would suggest instead, to get the Opteron 170 and just overclock the thing. You could save $100+ looking at that site. The possibility of overclocking would depend on your RAM, PSU, and cooling also though (the the stock cooler on the Opteron 170 is fine specially since the Opterons normally run very cool).

[Aristocrat]

Overclocking was always on the agenda.
The ram is high quality, and according to the extreme psu calculator, my vaunted hopes of htting 3ghz still lie within my psu's power (Antec Neopower 480watt).

I will look into the 170, but my motherboard (Asus Sli Deluxe) may limit my overclock due to it's lack of voltage options (it might or it might not).

On cooling, I have an XP-90 and a high quality 92mm fan with Artic Silver 5 on my current cpu (AMD 3500) so I'm assuming that will work on the Opti (Same socket type after all...otherwise I may need to track down the original backplate for my motherboard).

[Erik]

On the cpu, it is basically a 4600-4800 X2 repackaged as an Opteron.

Why do you want an Opteron, and not a regular desktop CPU?

[Aristocrat]

Because finding an actual s939 dual core Athlon in Australia has suddenly become as hard securing peace in the middle east, so I did some research, read some reviews (Tomshardware was surprisingly useless), and found out that the Opteron Dual Cores 170-185's are just rebadged dual cores athlons.