Upgrading Old PC

[Flashart]

Hi Folks.

Its been a looooong time since I was last here.

I have dug out my old PC and I want to upgrade the gfx card and memory but I've been out of the loop for a long time and am very rusty when it comes to PC components.

I want to use it for Flight Simulator X and Aces High 2 and anything else it will be able to play. Its going to be a long time before I can afford a decent PC again so Im hoping if I spend £100 max on this PC I will be able to play the fore mentioned games on high settings.

Here is dxdiag of the PC....


Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.101209-1647)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: MSI
System Model: MS-7369
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+, MMX, 3DNow (2 CPUs), ~2.6GHz
Memory: 3072MB RAM
Page File: 956MB used, 4001MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode




Card name: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: ATI Radeon Graphics Processor (0x9442)
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9442&SUBSYS_05021002&REV_00
Display Memory: 512.0 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 720 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6925 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 2/25/2009 22:41:10, 325120 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes


So Im hoping to upgrade the graphics card and memory. Not sure whether the motherboard can take anything newer than ddr2? I dont really have a clue about memory or graphics cards these days.

I will probably also need a new psu as the current one is only 405w.

Any help, advice and recommendations are greatly appreciated.

[Bizman]

I've got some sad news for you, Flashart. The only real upgrade would be an entirely new computer.

Some good news, too: You might be able to run AH2 with that rig until they release AH3. A relatively inexpensive improvement might be getting a second hand video card such as a Radeon HD 5770 or higher, especially if your current card is the lower of the HD 4800 series running DDR3 instead of GDDR5. The 5770 used less power than the 4800 series, so your current PSU might be up to the task.

Again, this would only be a temporary solution and only recommended if you can get the replacement card next to free.

[NatCigg]

ive got a ddr3 gfx card geforce 745.  it is from dell and retail at $60 bucks if you can find one second hand im sure some shmuck is giving them away. its a pci e 16 card i thinks. 4 gb video ram and runs ah3 alpha ok.

[Bino]

An NVidia GTX 750 ti with 4 GB of video RAM will, here in the States, just about blow your whole budget. And you'll need to check your power supply to be sure it's up to the task.

A CPU upgrade to the Athlon 64 X2 6400+ is only about GB £40, but is not likely to be any help.

[Flashart]

So I've decided to do a more substantial upgrade.  Thinking of getting these parts now then get a gtx 750 for Christmas or maybe a gtx 960 then further down the line get a i5 or i7 cpu and an ssd drive, then even further down the line another 8gb ram and maybe a second video card sli. 



http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/GYHBVn



Intel Celeron G1840 2.8GHz Dual-Core Processor


ASRock Z97 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard


Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory


EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply



Any thoughts on my selections?

[Bizman]

Instead of the Celeron (a name I've learned to hate like plague) I'd choose Pentium G3258. It runs natively just a little faster @3.2 GHz but it's a phenomenal overclocker, easily to 4.8 GHz or so! Just look for the many reviews and tutorials to get the picture.