Looking for basic info, what does upgrading each piece of hardware do for my PC

[hunterc311]

Hello geniuses!

Very simple question(s) for someone who isn't hugely literate about hardware.

My wife and I have very similar computer builds and we are looking to upgrade to better hardware. For instance, the games we play run adequately, but can run better. We use our machines for a variety of things, but gaming and media are a must. Given that I don't know what exactly the hierarchy of hardware is and our budget is limited, I'm looking to see what improving specific parts will yield in terms of improved results for gaming and media.

1) What does improving a CPU do for gaming and media?

2) What does improving the amount of memory do for gaming and media?

3) What does improving the graphics card do mainly for gaming?


Our machine specs are (very old, don't laugh):

- Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 / 4MB ram / nVidia GeForce 9800 GTX+
- Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 / 4MB ram / nVidia GeForce 9800 GTX+

Thank you guys very much ahead of time for any insight you can share. I hope to know which areas of our machines I can upgrade and which I can afford to hold off on as they won't impact our two areas of focus much.

 

[sgtmasterD]

1) What does improving a CPU do for gaming and media? http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1639992/cpu-computer-affect-gaming.html

2) hat does improving the amount of memory do for gaming and media? http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/328609-30-effect-gaming


3) What does improving the graphics card do mainly for gaming? i coud not find a link for this quistion im sorry for that.
a grapic card is the biggest component in gaming it inprove you performcens greatly so dont cheap out on this component.

i hope i have given you enough information