PC upgrade for £200 ($360 US)?

I'm thinking about upgrading my homebuilt PC as it's getting a little on the slow side for some recent games. My budget's £200 (about $360 U.S. I think), and I've been thinking about just replacing the motherboard and CPU, but would appreciate any advice on how to get the best performance increase for the money.

Thanks in advance.


System specs:

Athlon XP Thoroughbred 2000+ (running at 133 MHz)
AsRock K7S8X R3.0 (Chipset: SIS 748)
1Gb PC2700 RAM
GeForce FX 5500 128mb
WinXP Pro SP1
Fujitsu MPC3043AT 40GB Hard drive

 

welcome to the forum ,the best upgrade is specific to what you use your computer for,for general production and office type apps a new cpu and mainboard combination would offer most improvement,for gaming a new video card and a cheaper motherboard/cpu combination would be better,a new psu may be needed also.you should be able to use your current memory in your new system if you have 2 sticks that are pretty closely matched,4 sticks may cause compatibility probs though

 

Thanks Rikky.

The only reason I'm upgrading is for games performance - it runs well enough already for everything else I need. I've got 2 512mb sticks of RAM, so was planning on keeping them, but hadn't thought about upgrading the power supply. If I were to get a new graphics card as well as processor & motherboard, which do you think I should be spending the most on?

Cheers.

 

what games you play?

 

At the moment: X2 - The Threat, Vampire: Bloodlines, Pariah. Performs ok on all 3, but not fantastic.

 

damn,I always go over budget that includes delivery,if you like it take a screenshot it might not be up here in a few weeks,whatever you do dont skimp on the power supply its THE most important thing,if it goes it can take everything with it,this is the minimum quality psu you can use with that system,you will also have to check your current case is atx for the psu and motherboard to fit

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b214/Rikky_/shop.jpg

 

Rikky mate what site was that I might be able to find it cheaper?

And I'd up that psu to 400W...

 

My bad, Scan.co.uk,I'd put that 350w enermax up against any generic 500w,you are right though it could use a 400 watter incase an extra dvd drive is thrown in or something,if you can find it cheaper,the saved monies should go toward a 400w psu

 

Beat ya by 5p lol!
Novatech might have it cheaper I'll try.

 

Thanks for the suggestions - both look good, but I'm not entirely sure how important it is to get a better power supply. Is it really likely that a bog-standard one would burn out?

 

No, but if you're going to game and putting a Sempron 3000+ cpu in along with a 6600 then 350W is not going to be enough.