Hello. I'm glad I found this site as I heard that it's one of the best PC forums. I joined today and this is my very first post. I would really appreciate it if you could reply to me in detail.

I have an old computer which I bought 4 years ago. It has an AMD Sempron 3100+ (1.8Ghz with 256kb L2 cache), and I also have 1.5GB of RAM installed, and a Radeon 9550. Instead of buying a brand new computer, I would like to upgrade its processor and graphics card and I already found good deals where I can get both the CPU and GPU for less than $100, which I think is worth it.

I'm looking to buy an Athlon 64 3400+ (2.2Ghz with 1MB L2 cache), and I found one for less than $40. Is it a worthy upgrade to the Sempron? Will it be that much faster?

And for the graphics cards, I'm looking to buy either a Radeon HD 2600 XT which I can get for $50, or a HD 3650 for $40-45, or a HD 2600 Pro for about $40, or if I want to cheapen out a 2400 Pro for $30 (which is still much better than the crappy graphics I have right now). Which of these graphics cards do you recommend?

Of course, I'm not looking to play the newest and highest end games. I just want to be able to play Half-Life 2 and Battlefield 2 on Max settings.

Thank you so much!

Hi there and welcome to PCHF

In order for us to give you the best advice, please can you post as much information as possible about your system. This information is vital to anyone offering you support on the forum and will mean that you will receive more accurate help.

Please use this link to find out more about your system: http://www.pchelpforum.com/new-membe...r-pc-spec.html

If you need help with any of this, just ask.

This site gives all the detailed information about my computer:

Product Specifications Compaq Presario SR1315CL Desktop PC - HP Customer Care (Canada - English)

Hi (and welcome to PCHF)

That's your motherboard, and that is the manual for it

The Radeon HD 2600 XT is PCIe, which the motherboard does not support (has AGP slot), so look for AGP cards.

I also think that you overlook the obvious: Power Supply.

Most OEM systems come with PSUs that cannot compete with the ones you buy from a store (Wattage, performance etc).

I would suggest getting a more powerfull PSU as well (and if -budget permitting-you spend a bit more on it, you can have it for a future update as well)

Thanks for your reply. I already have a 500W power supply installed on my computer. I also bought an HD 2600XT AGP for $38 yesterday, and I will be buying an Athlon 64 3400+ (2.2Ghz with 1MB L2 cache) for less $40. So in total, I would have only spent less than $80 on these upgrades. How will my computer perform gaming wise with these upgrades?

Hi

Check for youself here:

Game Requirements|Game System Requirements|PC Game System Requirements

or here: http://cyri.systemrequirementslab.com/srtest/