Refurbish old 2006 PC to gaming PC

[JoePhysicsNut]

Hi all,

I got an old 2006 PC (see specs at end of post) for free and decided I'd like to get back to video gaming after an absence of over ten years.

I realise playing current games is too much to ask of this PC, but maybe mid-2000's games are doable.

I tried running Half-Life 2 on it, but it crashed during the first video (but after loading the start menu). My guess is it's the graphics card that's not meant for gaming (it was an office PC). Could it also be a DirectX (I have 11) or Win 7 issue?

I found a NVIDIA GeForce GTX550Ti 1GB graphics card on sale locally. If I get it and a new PSU will it work with by old PC and will that solve my problems with games crashing?

Any other suggestions are also welcome!

Specs
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (32-bit)
Dell Optiplex GX620 HH807 Motherboard
Intel Pentium D CPU 3.00 GHz
Intel 82852 256MB graphics card
2x1 GB ram, but upgradeable to 4GB.
PSU 305W
AGP and PCI slots

 

[ARICH5]

is that 550ti an agp?

 

[Outlander_04]

Your problem will be finding an AGP graphics card .

I dont know any have even been manufactured for 2 or 3 years and even then they were low spec replacements for dead older hardware

 

[smeezekitty]

AGP only? Looks like you'll need a new motherboard really.

 

[Kisianik]

Stop everyone!
Where AGP slot came from.
Dell Optiplex GX620 HH807 Motherboard http://www.ascendtech.us/dell-optiplex-gx620-hh807-motherboard_i_mbdeloptgx620.aspx

Manufacturer: Intel ( OEM for Dell Optiplex GX620 )
Dell Compatible Part#: HH807 0HH807 F8098 0F8098 X9682 0X9682 HJ780 0HJ780 MD525 CJ334 0CJ334
Socket: LGA775
Chipset: Intel 945G
Expansion Slots: PCI Express Slot, 2 PCI Slot
Other Features: Hyper-Threading Technology Support
Connectors: (6) USB 2.0 Ports Back, 10/100 LAN
Peripheral Interface: (1) Serial ATA (SATA) Interface
Video: 1X16 PCI Express Slot
Audio: Onboard Sound Audio System
Supported Memory: DDR2
Maximum Memory: Dual Channel DIMM Support for up to 4 GB of memory

PCIE slot. No card that is more than 7.5 inches long or 2 slots wide will PHYSICALLY FIT inside the case.