help upgrading computer

i'm looking to upgrade my computer. it's a few years old now and it's getting quite slow. i need it if possible to be able to play more or less recent games. if this is not possible i just need to increase its speed considerably. it will be my first time upgrading, i have done some background reading into the subject. i won't change the motherboard since that would be too complicated for me to do. i'm willing to spend about £200 on it. i need your advice. these are the specs:

Computer Type ACPI Uniprocessor PC
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
Internet Explorer 6.0.2900.2180 (IE 6.0 SP2)
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)

Motherboard
CPU Type Intel Celeron-S, 1400 MHz (14 x 100)
Motherboard Name ECS P6IWF (3 PCI, 1 CNR, 2 DIMM, Audio, Video)
Motherboard Chipset Intel Whitney i810E
System Memory 256 MB (PC133 SDRAM)
BIOS Type AMI (06/12/02)

Display
Video Adapter Intel(R) 82810E Graphics Controller (Microsoft Corporation) (32 MB)
3D Accelerator Intel i752
Monitor NEC A527 Packard Bell [15" CRT] (TTMN14800526)

Multimedia
Audio Adapter Intel 82801BA ICH2 - AC'97 Audio Controller [B-5]

Storage
IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801BA Ultra ATA Storage Controller - 244B
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive WDC WD400EB-11CPF0 (37 GB, IDE)
Optical Drive HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8400B (40x/12x/40x CD-RW)
Optical Drive HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8160B (16x/48x DVD-ROM)

I was thinking of getting a 256Mb ATI Radeon graphics card, perhaps increase RAM to 1gig and getting a 160GB Maxtor DiamondMax SATA hdd and a LiteOn Dual Format & Double Layer dvd writer. is this too ambitious? i'm not at all sure if this is possible with this motherboard, any recommendations? or am i better off just buying a completely new computer?

You are better off starting from scratch.

I agree.

i'd concentrate on cpu and vid card, which will drain 200 quickly, but it's the main gaming power.

While "upgrading" this PC might make short term sense, it really is an inefficient use of resources (i.e.,money).
In essense, this PC is a basic, sturdy, office workstation and was never meant to be more...any cash spent on parts (save the drives) would go down the drain with it as they would not be compatable with the newer platforms.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WannaPlay

it's a few years old now and it's getting quite slow.

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Add 256MB of RAM, reformat and reinstall.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WannaPlay

i need it if possible to be able to play more or less recent games.

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Does your motherboard even have an AGP slot?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WannaPlay

if this is not possible i just need to increase its speed considerably.

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Trade 'er in.

sounds like this is a lost cause. i guess i'll improve it with some RAM so that it lasts a while longer. is it worth getting 2*256 of RAM? looks like that's all it can take.

Expansion Slots 3 PCI, 1 CNR
RAM Slots 2 DIMM
PCI/AGP video, Intel i752 Video Adapter, Intel i752 3D Accelerator

It'll help ya but not much just a waste of cash.

You should be able to grab some second-hand PC133 SDRAM very cheap but test it with memtest86 before buying.

A better bet would be to get an upgrade bundle from a reputable website (one that's not too hard to take stuff back to under warranty) or computer fair.
You could get a cheap mobo, CPU, RAM and GFX card for your £200 but it ain't gonna rock the world... just improve considerably what you have now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chewie UK

You could get a cheap mobo, CPU, RAM and GFX card for your £200 but it ain't gonna rock the world... just improve considerably what you have now.

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Maybe, but if this a manufactured PC (Dell, Sony, etc.) I'll bet the "restore disc" won't work, so he'll need a clean OS to install as well.
Just another factor to consider.

thx chewie that's great advice. i'll check out some of these computer fairs. looked for a upgrade bundle didn’t see anything appealing though, did u have a site in mind? i'm a new comer to the innards of a computer so i'll probably stick to the simple stuff for now ;) how do i know what's compatible with this motherboard besides trial and error and fuc*ing up the computer at it... :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WannaPlay

how do i know what's compatible with this motherboard besides trial and error and fuc*ing up the computer at it... :)

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Erm...Google?

Yeah, that's the ticket.

Maybe u should try to save up. To me this seems like the best idea but if its too much to save up some good money then u should go for a better cpu, mem, and gfx card but all of that to be ok is still over ur budget.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gam3Guy

Maybe u should try to save up. To me this seems like the best idea but if its too much to save up some good money then u should go for a better cpu, mem, and gfx card but all of that to be ok is still over ur budget.

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Better memory would be incompatible and mean buying a new board anyway.

You should be able to pick up a Sempron 2400 for around the £40 mark, then add a cheap mobo for £30-£40, then £60-ish for 1GB of PC3200 would leave about £60 for a gfx card.
Like I said, it ain't gonna rock the world...

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=114447&cks=SPK

That's a good price!

Spending money to upgrade that computer is a total waste of time. Even if you where to buy new ram and a new vid card it would still be uselss with todays games. Save up man, start from scratch (and this time with an AMD):P

arent semprons not best for gaming, i thought athlons were better?