Upgrade CPU or whole system?

Hi all, hoping I'd be able to get some advise or tips.

I want to upgrade my system and was planning on a complete overhaul (mobo, cpu, ram, hdd, psu, etc.) though cash is a bit tight at the moment.

Is it worth me just upgrading the CPU? It'll save a lot and I can do it straight away though I don't know how much of an improvement I could expect.

Anyhow this is what I currently have:

AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3500+
Upgrade Socket 939
MultiCore 1 Processor Core
Level 1 128 KB
Level 2 512 KB
Level 3 0 B

NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS Driver 6.14.11.6218
Total Local Video Memory 256 MB
Total Local Texture Memory 625 MB

Memory Slot 1/4
Installed Enabled Size 1.00 GB
Form Factor DIMM
Frequency 400.0 MHz
Slot DIMM0 [BANK0]
Type DDR
Type Details Synchronous
Enabled Size 1.00 GB
Total Bit Width 64 b
Data Bit Width 72 b
Memory Slot 2/4
Installed Enabled Size 1.00 GB
Form Factor DIMM
Frequency 400.0 MHz
Slot DIMM1 [BANK1]
Type DDR
Type Details Synchronous
Enabled Size 1.00 GB
Total Bit Width 64 b
Data Bit Width 72 b

Supported Slot Types ISA, PCI, PCI Express
Manufacturer ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Model A8N-VM CSM

WDC WD3200JD-22KLB0
Device Drive Type Hard Disk
Name WDC WD3200JD-22KLB0
Capacity 298.09 GB

System is used mainly for gaming and the CPU seems to be the current bottleneck. Should I grab a better socket 939 CPU or wait a little longer and go the whole system?

Any feedback appreciated.

David

 

I upgraded to an Athlon X2 and I lust love it (cheap too), however I'm not sure about gaming unless your games are multi-core aware. Also, an extra gig of RAM wouldn't hurt at all.

 

I'm not sure if you noticed but I've actually got 2Gb Ram. The software I used to get the PC's details breaks it down to slot 1 and slot 2, each with 1 Gb.

 

a dual core would probably perk your system up a little. As far as games go it may help some especially in newer games. Thats just from my personal experience going from single to dual core. Not all will agree but so is life