Advice on my planned PC upgrade

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In the new year I'm planning on upgrading my, severely aging, PC. My intent is to get a new sound card, set of speakers, graphics card, hard drive, and motherboard processor kit.

The parts I am considering are these:
160 GB Hard drive
256mb Radeon 9600
Sempron 2400
Sound card
Speakers

The hard drive is the only thing that is definite, and the motherboard processor I'm fairly sure on.However the graphics and sound card are undecided.

The graphics card seemed very good, 256 mb, but comparing it's price with other 256 mb cards it seems substantially cheaper. Is the mb not the most accurate way to gauge how good a card will be? Any other suggestions for good cards.

The sound card and speakers: I currently have an onboard sound card so I'm going for a low to middle range sound card. The speakers about the same middlish area.

I'm really just looking for some advice; i.e. if what I think looks good is actually not as good as it seems. Thanks in advance.

 

Unless you're an audiophile, a soundcard isn't really worth the money, especially if you are building a budget PC, I know some would disagree, but I believe that most new mobos have pretty decent onboard sound. My k8n Neo Platinum sounds great, for example, and so do PCs at my school. So, I would recommend an MSI mobo for the Sempron and don't bother getting a sound card.

As for the graphics card, I would switch to a 9600XT, as they are quite decent for the money.

For speakers, I would switch to a Logitech X-530, I have a set of Logitech Speakers myself and they are just beastly.

Hope some of that helped.

 

In regards to speakers/soundcards which gives you the better quality (not sure if that's the word) of sound; i.e. Good speakers > Good Soundcard or vice versa?

 

Hmmm...your HDD is an excellent brand and a good size, but it only has a 2mb buffer...8mb is pretty much the standard now. Also, you might want to think about getting a SATA drive, data transfers and overall drive performance will increase if you go with a SATA drive.

The ATI 9600 is so cheap because it's getting old...if you plan on playing the newer games like 'Far Cry', 'Doom 3', or 'Halo 2', you might want to think about getting the ATI 9800pro, or even go all out and get a X800. Also note, that the on-board RAM isn't everything to a card's performance! A 128MB X800 would out-perform a 256Mb 9600 card without breaking a sweat.

As for your mobo/CPU bundle, all I can say is: Go with Intel!!!

The sound card will do fine, if your like me, and use your computer for watching TV, DVDs, CDs, and Mp3s, then you might want to get a better one...
Your right about the better quality with the add-in cards. On-board audio isn't that good when it comes to quality, and can sound gritty...

 

Nah, don't go with Intel. AMD has cornered the budget market with the Semprons; the Intel Celerons just can't compare.

I would also recommend the X800, I have one myself, but they are expensive, and you can play any game out there today just fine with a 9600XT.

Edit: And in my experience, paying extra for speakers will give a better effect than paying extra for a sound card. Granted, those Audigy 2 Platinum ZS's are sweet, but they are so expensive...