pc upgraders which trak

[Flyby]

well, my current system is in parts now (has been for quite a while now), but iirc my average fps for the Kamikaze trak was in the low 30s with water set to 3. in usual game play I didn't have many issues, but I noted that I needed to tone down the flak from ships and such. I made a lot of at-sea type mission and learned that ship flak, if not set properly would bog my sytem down. I also remember a mission I made where the object was to down some Ju-52s before they could drop their paratroops. Well the first time the interception failed, and when those troops dropped, my system REALLY slowed up! It was an online coop mission and the opfor won the day. I had to reduce the nimber of troop transports to get it to run acceptably.
At any rate, the new seroes of intel processors should see me clear. I need to see how the x38 chipset/mobo prices look too. I'm not going for an extreme system, so maybe the p35 chipset will have to do, and DDR2 if the price of DDR3 doesn't drop enough by the time I'm ready to step up. Also I figure that since I own a BFG 6800 ultra, I might get lucky with their trade-in policy, and get that hot little 8800gt-oc they offer.
I hope the dollar bounces back by then. If not, 7fps is not a bad minimum rate at all!!
Flyby