Looking To Upgrade Out-Dated System

[JHollinger]

I am looking to upgrade my current rig to a "gamable"condition. Here are the problems I am currently having:

Spoiler

At the moment, I'm trying to limit myself at $150 in spending money, so starting from scratch probably won't be an option. The results that I'm looking for make this even more difficult to find the suitable upgrades for the right price, so I'm hoping someone here can help me narrow my search. I already own Skyrim and Rage, both of which are extremely laggy. With Skyrim, all motions have either extremely slow reaction rate to clicking, and distance is only limited to maybe half a sprint's (Based on 100 stamina) distance away in-game.


With Rage, reaction rate and combat gameplay are not a problem at all, but rather if I turn at all, frame rate drops and everything other than the character blurs out for a few moments, then returns to normal, limiting me to facing one direction at all times as if I were playing an 80's arcade shooter with modern-day graphics. I also get problems with my video card's driver. It will not update at all what-so-ever, and even the local Best Buy employees can't solve the problem. With that said, I'm looking towards converting over to Intel processors and Nvidia cards. However, if my cash limit isn't enough to obtain a processor or card of those brands and would suit AMD better, I won't argue.


I just want to get the best I can afford or just solve my issues if there's a solution. If the price for getting much better than what my limit would allow for just several dollars more, I may make an exception. Help me out here guys.

I currently have a HP Pavilion Elite e9220y. Here are the specs:

Spoiler

Case:
Mid-Size ATX -
40 cm (15.75 in) [Height], 17.78 cm (7 in) [Width], 43.18 cm (17 in) [Length]


Motherboard:
Foxconn H-RS880-uATX (Aloe) -
AMD 785G Chipset, 4 x DDR3 Memory Sockets, 5200 MT/s Front Side Bus Speeds, AM3 Processor Socket, 1 PCI x16 Slot, 3 PCI x1 Slots, 1 PCI Express x1 Minicard Slot


Processor:
AMD Phenom II X4 910 -
2.6 GHz, Quad-Core, AM3/AM2+ Socket, 4000 MHz HT3 Bus Speed


Memory:
8 GB RAM, PC3-10600 MB/sec Speed


Graphics:
ATI Radeon HD4350 -
PCI Express x16, HDMI/DVI Max Res 1080p/1920x1200 60 Hz, VGA Max Res 2048x1536 75 Hz, 512 MB On-Board Memory, Supports HDTV/Blu-Ray/HD DVD up to 1080p/Double Display/HDCP


Sound:
Integrated Realtec ALC888S Audio -
8 Channels, 24-bit Max Bit Depth, Up To 192,000 Hz Max Sampe Rate, Supports One SPDIF Digital Connection


HDD:
1 TB


Power Supply:
300W

 

[shamsmu]

if you want to upgrade your psu. Then get a corsair cx430 and a hd7770 ghz edition. ($40+120)=$160

If you dont want to go through the hassle of upgrading your psu, then get the hd7750. ($100)

Both gpus should be able to play the games you want to play with ease.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5541/amd-radeon-hd-7750-radeon-hd-7770-ghz-edition-review/19

 

[JHollinger]

if you want to upgrade your psu. Then get a corsair cx430 and a hd7770 ghz edition. ($40+120)=$160

If you dont want to go through the hassle of upgrading your psu, then get the hd7750. ($100)

Both gpus should be able to play the games you want to play with ease.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5541/amd-radeon-hd-7750-radeon-hd-7770-ghz-edition-review/19

Both of these products will be compatible with my current specs?

 

[shamsmu]

yup I don't see why they shouldn't.

 

[JHollinger]

yup I don't see why they shouldn't.

I was just thinking about the dimensions, and if the card being a PCIe 3.0 would have any affect on my gameplay since my motherboard only has a normal PCI 1.0 that can fit the card.

 

[shamsmu]

nope the cards are backwards compatible. Your mobo has a pci-e1.1 x16 slot which won't make any noticeable difference for cards like hd7750/7770. Pci express 3.0 only make a noticeable difference for cards like gtx690 even thats only by 2-3fps.