Need advice for computer upgrade

[Loki414]

First time poster looking for advice. I have roughly 250$ to spend to upgrade my computer. I play alot of online fps and mmo games. My system specs are as follows:
CPU-AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3.1 Ghz
Motherboard- Asustek model M3A79-CM
PCI-Express x16
Memory- 8GB Corsair DDR2
Graphics- Radeon HD 4870 1 GB
500GB HD
Windows Vista 64bit
700 Watt power supply

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[firo40]

what location

 

[lxgoldsmith]

gpu + ssd

gtx 660 and a 120GB ssd will make you very happy

 

[Loki414]

washington state

 

[Loki414]

Was thinking of putting in a ssd but was unsure if my motherboard ( Asustek model M3A79-CM ) could equip one. Also I have heard some people say that if you have an intel processor go with nvidia, and if you have an amd go with ATI/Radeon. Due to compatibility issues, any truth to that?

 

[lxgoldsmith]

No, and an ssd works beautifully with any system.

Edit - I take that back, the vista os is not made for solid state. It would take tweaks. 7 or above is best for an ssd

 

[Loki414]

Would the ssd work fine as long as i kept my os on my standard hd and just put my gaming files on the ssd?

 

[Urbanengineer]

That is the opposite of what I would do, but it is up to you.

Boot times for Windows 8.1 can be reduced to mere seconds. You'll barely have enough time to sip your coffee. As for gaming, you have files that are ~20GB in size and they load transition windows a little faster. Not too much benefit for gaming imo.

 

[Loki414]

Im not sure how easy or difficult it is to transfer an os to an ssd. But i dont plan on switching my current os of Vista 64. Since i play alot of games im primarily looking for tips on how i best can increase my graphics and frames per second for under 250$. Games are coming out that I would love to play but my current config doesnt seem up to performing at the level i would like.
By the way I would like to thank everyone who has posted their ideas, much appreciated