Upgrade advice!

[Evil Gately]

OK, so here's my current specs:


CPU: Athlon 64 X2 dual core 4400+ 2.21 GHz
GFX: GeForce 8800 GT
RAM: 4x1GB sticks
O/S: Vista Ultimate 64-BIT

So what should I pump some money into? According to Vista itself, the CPU could do with an upgrade, as it only scores 5 on the Vista Experience Rating. This is also backed up by Last Remnant. While I was playing it, the CPU meter read 99-100% the whole time!

My other concern is that my GFX card may be starting to show it's age. It's served me well up until now, but it's beginning to look dangerously close to minimum spec for the most recent games (Last Remnant, Street Fighter IV, etc.)...

I've got about £150-ish to splurge on it, so suggestions, please, ladies and gentles!

[Daggerstrike]

I don't know what this translates into in your weird crazy money, but http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103279 is a nice chip for the money.

[Jet16]

Usually you don't need to change your CPU when you want to see a gaming performance boost, plus it's way more tedious than a simple graphics card change. Since I'm pretty sure that your dual core isn't bottle necking your 8800 GT, you may want to upgrade your GFX card for any gaming boost you're looking for. Though, before doing that, might I suggest overclocking? My friend has an 8800 GTX, a card pretty close to yours, with a special cooler overclocked much higher than stock specs and he has run games like Crysis fine. If you really want to get a new graphics card, I'll suggest saving up for a lower end GeForce GTX 280 or 260. I've used a GTX 260 overclocked a bit with a CPU a bit better than the one Daggerstrike posted and I have been able to play everything perfectly. If you can save up money for something like the GTX 200 series, then you will be set for a while. Though, the card will most likely require a new power supply unit which will be another added expense.