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[de5me7]

My PC is a bit behind the curve and im quite liking the look of the up coming DX3 and the year old Metro 2033.

My current rig is
E4500 2.2 core 2 duo processor
2 gig DDR2 (maybe ddr3) ram
8400gs Nividia card
cant remember the motherboard, but given its with a core to duo it wont be a monster.

So the question is, how long can i cost effectivly facelift this PC.

i see three options

1. Spend upto £200 ($350) on a new graphics card, and add a 4gb stick of ram, with the expectation of about 3-5 more years of being able to run top flight games but not necessarily at max settings. Possibly buy a better core 2 duo (is upgrading a core 2 duo ever worth it?). If so which card should i get, i dont want to upgrade my power unit and cooling system.

2. by a geforce 9800 or some card for about £50, and then maybe 2gb ram just to play the two games mentioned (if the processor the other upgrades will cut it) and maybe a few other releases in this year.

3 buy new PC

Theres no point in spending loads on an upgrade if the motherboard and processor are never going to cut it, is the basic hinge point.

can anyone advise?

[Saint]

new build, including case, it's obviously a nice change if you have the cash, if not then upgrade

[Frajic]

(note: these prices are slightly guessed)
I'd get a new everything, but not a new PC. Get a new motherboard(50-100£), 4GB DDR3 RAM(~40£(wow, I didn't know it was that cheap now)), as for card... I'll look for an energy-efficient one.

And I recommend getting an AMD Phenom II X4 processor. Lots of power for the money.

[creodor]

You can build a new computer with great hardware for pretty cheap, really. I'd go with an AMD/ATI setup for cost and energy efficiency. If your current case is good, then keep it. But those Antec 300 are very nice to build in (don't know if there's better yet or not, but I like those). If you keep your peripherals, I could see a pretty good new build for...maybe $600ish. Very rough estimate.

[Saint]

Get a nvidia card because ATI cards usualy have more compatability issues.

[Thexor]

I'd have to say, I agree on NVidia over ATI for compatibility alone. I've seen several forums where people outline which ATI driver versions work with which game, and frankly, it reads like a shopping list. "Drivers from 10.1 - 10.4 work for this game, this game works with 10.5 and up, this other game stopped working at 10.9..." I've never had to roll back the drivers on my NVidia card, and I play games with a pretty wide selection of ages and video requirements. ATI may be superior in cost-versus-power, but that hardly matters if your drivers screw over half the games I want to play, does it? 

On the other hand, I've heard lots of good things about AMD processors. The Intel vs AMD CPU debate is a lot like the Nvidia versus ATI GPU debate, where the former produces expensive, top-of-the-line devices and the latter produces slightly less-powerful, far cheaper devices. The difference is, AMD processors actually work, whereas ATI GPUs often don't. 

Cases really don't make much of a difference - if your case can actually hold everything inside it, then you're set. Sure, there's a bunch of talk about 'airflow', but if you're really having airflow problems, remove the side of the case and replace it with a cheap mesh or something. It's certainly not worth spending a hundred bucks to slightly reduce heat, especially if you're not obsessively overclocking.

[creodor]

I wouldn't know about the compatibility issues, I've only ever bought Nvidia. They're just pricey. And power hogs. Was contemplating ATI for my next upgrade...but if compatibility is that bad, then nevermind.

Intel is great if you have cash to throw around. The i7 is a great processor (I love mine ). But AMD's Phenom line is superb as well, don't think it can't keep up.

The only reason I say Antec 300 is purely for buildability. One of the nicest cases I've built. And they're around...$50 at last check. Definitely no need to shell out for a super awesome OMFGWTF case if you don't plan to overclock.

[Capntastic]

http://techreport.com/articles.x/20138

[Jay]

Intel is upgrading to 2011-pin sockets soon.  If you're looking for something high-end, I would seriously recommend waiting for them to hit, as the 1156 and 1366 sockets are essentially being discontinued.

[Tellemurius]

thats something i would pay 1000 bucks for as long there is enough pci-e lanes for all of my graphics cards for full x16.

[nenjin]

What OS are you on? As much as it pains me to say it, XP is on its last legs as far as gaming goes. If you're not on Windows 7 yet, you need to be for the next year+ of modern gaming.

[Tellemurius]

i find windows 7 excellent for all of my games.

[Draco18s]

Buy a new barebones.  Transfer existing (good) parts.

Enjoy blissful transfer of files, OS, settings, and drivers.*

Also cheaper.  I spent $580 and got a computer worth about $850.  Why?  Kept my 2 hard drives ($80/per), kept my CPU fan ($50), DVD drive ($20), sound card ($?), and wireless adapter ($30).

I got mine here:
www.portatech.com

*If you get a new video card, you'll install a new driver, of course, but a lot of your basic drivers will still be there as well as drivers for hardware you kept.

[Saint]

Asus and AMD ftw

[lordnincompoop]

I'd wait for Ivy Bridge or whatever Intel called it to hit.

After that, a new build. If you're strapped on cash, spend it on a GPU and a cooler so you can overclock the thing. It'll help for a while, but a new build really would do the job.

Get a nvidia card because ATI cards usualy have more compatability issues.

Pfffffff.

No, they don't, as far as I know. I don't know where you even got that from.

They're bad in hackintosh builds, but that's pretty much it.

EDIT:

I'd have to say, I agree on NVidia over ATI for compatibility alone. I've seen several forums where people outline which ATI driver versions work with which game, and frankly, it reads like a shopping list. "Drivers from 10.1 - 10.4 work for this game, this game works with 10.5 and up, this other game stopped working at 10.9..." I've never had to roll back the drivers on my NVidia card, and I play games with a pretty wide selection of ages and video requirements. ATI may be superior in cost-versus-power, but that hardly matters if your drivers screw over half the games I want to play, does it? 

On the other hand, I've heard lots of good things about AMD processors. The Intel vs AMD CPU debate is a lot like the Nvidia versus ATI GPU debate, where the former produces expensive, top-of-the-line devices and the latter produces slightly less-powerful, far cheaper devices. The difference is, AMD processors actually work, whereas ATI GPUs often don't. 

Cases really don't make much of a difference - if your case can actually hold everything inside it, then you're set. Sure, there's a bunch of talk about 'airflow', but if you're really having airflow problems, remove the side of the case and replace it with a cheap mesh or something. It's certainly not worth spending a hundred bucks to slightly reduce heat, especially if you're not obsessively overclocking.

I see the same thing with NVIDIA drivers, for the record. There are no major compat issues. I've never had to roll back my drivers, either.

I detest that second one. They work fine.

Cases are actually important. Try overclocking on air in a beige box, see how that turns out. IIRC, meshes and stuff are actually bad for airflow, because it ruins the intended path.