Aside from the graphics card, you actually have a better PC than I do. (!)
Yeah, over the summer I also hope to build my own gaming rig... it svcks trying to work with 3D graphics on a PC that can hardly handle a pixel-shaded, 800x600 window with some simple particles flying around what is otherwise just a moderately complex scene! Once you get a taste of a fluid scene rendering at an unflinching 60 FPS, you just can't go back.