Upgrade or purchase new?

[Juzzy]

MICROPROC: AMD Phenom 9750+ 2.4GHz with HyperTransport Tech
MEM : 4GB (2x 2GB) PC2-6400 DDR2-800 (upto 3.2 GB only)
HDD : 750GB 7,200 rpm 3G Serial ATA hard drive
OPTICAL : 16x DVD+/-R/RW 12X +/-DL LS 12X RAM SuperMulti SATA JB
GRAPHICS : ATI Radeon HD 4350 with 512MB dedicated graphics Mem,
DVI capabilities (** Upto 1791MB for 32 Bit OS / Upto 2303MB
for 64 Bit OS; Total Available Graphics Mem as allocated by Win
Vista - ** MS Win Vista OS only)
PORTS : 2 USB, headphone, Mic
MEDIA : Card Reader Combo (6-in-1 + FIO)
OS : Win Vista Home Premium 32-bit

I mainly play wow but also alot of other games and I was wondering do you guys recommend purchasing a new pc straight up or upgrading over time. Im looking to get a gaming rig perhaps an alienware one if its better to buy out then upgrade that over time.

[Auralian]

Not much point in upgrading that, at best you would be able to use a AM3 95watt cpu but the Ram/ Bus speed would be slow. If your willing to shell out the Cash for a over rated Alien Ware why not just build you own and get more bang for you buck.

[yupholladay]

I agree with the post above me. Building a PC is the way to go, its a lot of fun, and a good experience.

Normally I would still recommend a PC builder company for you. However, there really isn't anything worth mentioning anymore. Alienware, origin, and maingear are so overpriced its just silly at this point. Digital Storm used to be a pretty clear winner but now they are just as bad as the for-mentioned companies price wise.

The cheaper companies cyberpowerpc and ibuypower are such garbage its embarrassing.

[Asera]

I'd replace the entire thing. Old Agena Phenoms aren't good. At all.

[Biernot]

Well... the only whing worth upgradeable is the graphics card. Everything else would be a total waste. (Meaning: while your CPU/RAM/HDD aren't really top of the line components, they are not that far behind current hardware. But your graphics card is the absolute entry model of second to last generation without any real 3d power.)

If you want to wait a bit longer with a complete new purchase, then it would be feasible to get a video card around the $70-100 mark and hold on to the rest for a spell. (e.g. Radeon 6670, Geforce 450, ...). With this you could "play" most games, but naturally with some limitations. WoW would be okay, except for raiding (10man might be possible, but 25 is out of the question), other games should be okay if you stick to low/medium settings.

On the other side - in regard to current and upcoming technology - now is a good time to make a new purchase. There is nothing ground-breaking on the horizon, and the current generation is a few months old, so you don't have to pay early-adopter prices. Surely, there are alway new products coming out, but nothing in the next 6 months that promises a big leap. (IvyBridge will bring a bit more performance, AMD's Bulldozer just came out but was a bit of a let-down, Radeon 7xxx will be a polished 6xxx, maybe Nvidia has something?)
Also now comes Christmas, and with it some special deals, so look out!