New / Upgrade on a budget

[sereal]

hey everyone,

used to game a lot in but stopped for school and work. now that I'm
settled down I'd like to dip my feet back in to the water and re-integrate gaming back into my life here and there, however I can no longer play games that i used to enjoy because theyve been updated and/or require better hardware

this is where i want your help, all you awesome members here @ toms hardware.

I have an old pc from cyberpowerpc with the following specs -

ASUSTeK Computer INC. A8N-SLI DELUXE 1.XX
Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra Series GPU
AMD Athalon 64 3500+, MMX, 3DNow, 2.2GHz
1024MB RAM (2x516MB)
APEVIA ICEBERG ATX-IB680W-BL 680W Power Supply
BIOS: Phoenix - Award BIOS v6.00PG
Windows XP
Linksys Wireless-G PCI Adapter with SpeedBooster

PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-109 [Optical drive]

I'm looking to preferably spend less than 300$ but definitely around 300$ max at the moment. I'm not sure if its better to buy a new PC (not sure if this is even an option with my budget) or upgrade/optimze this one or salvage some parts from this one in making a new pc -- Just looking for the best way to go about this.

I can get Windows 7 OS and I have a mouse, Plug N Play monitor and a keyboard. I only really want to play games that are either not extremely demanding or older such as:

Lineage II (sys requirements here: http://www.lineage2.com/en/game/download/system-requirements/)
League of Legends (https://support.leagueoflegends.com/entries/234272-Minimum-System-Requirements-PC-)
Ragnarok Online 2 (http://ro2.mmosite.com/data/system_requirements.shtml)

ok i think thats enough for now, if you need any more info from me please let me know.

thanks all for your help and expertise

 

[Deemo13]

You might want to save up until you can afford a better PC.

That being said, things can be done. The only thing I would recommend using from your old computer is the wireless card. If the hard drive is SATA, you can use it. You can also use the DVD-RW.

You might be able to use the GPU as well. The 6800 Ultra does haev DX9 if I remember. I'm also assuming you could use the old Cyberpower case.

Is the hard drive SATA by chance? Then I dont have to include it.

 

[sereal]

hi deemo,

thanks for the reply. definitely some things to consider. I'd like to see what we can come up with. I thought of all things the power supply might be useful.

unfortunately the hard drive is not SATA it is a Western Digital 2000 Caviar SE Enhanced IDE.

I'll try and snap some photos of the case tomorrow.

thanks again, looking forward to more input

 

[Deemo13]

The power supply is probably fine, but I can't recommend it between the age of it and the brand. I'd rather recommend something that I know will work right.

 

[sereal]

gonna wait a bit and spend a little more for a better pc. thanks deemo