Wanting to upgrade, is it possible or am I wasting time?

[deadpool405]

Currently have:
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 840 Socket AM3
RAM: 4 - 1G DDR2 800 (Total 4G DDR2 800)
GPU: nVidia GeForce GTS 450 1G DDR5 (Core: 822MHz, Shader: 1645MHz
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2HP

I am trying to boost my gaming abilities a little more, not trying to go 1440 res or anything spectacular. I have not had problems running most games, but the new WWE 2K15 needs more FPS! Am I able to upgrade the graphics card or RAM to help out or am I wasting time with this motherboard since it is only DDR2 compatible? Thank you in advance for the help, it's been a few years since I have been into the home building scene. I would like to spend around $150 or less, but am unable to tell if upgrading the graphics card would help or if I am already bottlenecked by the CPU? From what I can tell, I have the fastest CPU for this mobo.

 

[dark_lord69]

A GPU upgrade would help you for sure.
How do I know?
My gaming computer has an AMD Phenom II x4 955 (native clock is 3.2 GHz like yours)
My GPU is much better though and I've been playing plenty of newer games with the settings turned up.

 

[deadpool405]

A GPU upgrade would help you for sure.
How do I know?
My gaming computer has an AMD Phenom II x4 955 (native clock is 3.2 GHz like yours)
My GPU is much better though and I've been playing plenty of newer games with the settings turned up.

Ok, thank you very much for the info! I have a hard time telling which component may be bottlenecking and waste my time in upgrading. That helps me tremendously! Would you say I should upgrade the GPU before I upgrade the RAM?

 

[andy_Man]

Graphics card would most definitely help. Most games are not cpu bound. Another 4gigs of ram would help, but is not worth it unless you find some ddr2 used for a good price. (20$ tops)

 

[Unolocogringo]

Definitely. most games will work with 4 gig just fine.
A memory upgrade will not improve performance by a noticeable margin but a GPU upgrade will be very noticeable.
In your range a 750ti would be a major upgrade.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

 

[deadpool405]

You all are amazing! Thank you so much for the help and info. On my way to choosing a graphics card now. Definitely keeping the 750ti at the top of my list as I try to keep the amount as low as possible.

 

[lcp1109]

You can start by getting an GTX 75o or 750 ti, and more 4 gb ram you can find it for 11$ at ebay,

And if you are not happy with results you can either buy a better CPU (you could go with a phenom II x 4, or gamble a bit and buy an Athlon x 3 or a phenom x2, and try to unlock one or two cores) or save money to upgrade CPU MB and RAM (i3-4160, 8gb ram, MB would cost you between 200-250$). In this case, the second option would be better, but it will cost more.