Looking to Upgrade, What Should I Invest In?

[Orcbert]

I don't have alot of money to throw into my computer, maybe about 200 bucks at most.
I just ran Novabench and these are my results...
NovaBench Score: 206
8/25/2011 7:45:53 AM
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ @ 2200 MHz
Graphics Card: Radeon X1300/X1550 Series

1022 MB System RAM (Score: 80)
- RAM Speed: 1899 MB/s

CPU Tests (Score: 98)
- Floating Point Operations/Second: 15744474
- Integer Operations/Second: 57806891
- MD5 Hashes Generated/Second: 501136

Graphics Tests (Score: 16)
- 3D Frames Per Second: 60

Hardware Tests (Score: 12)
- Primary Partition Capacity: 223 GB
- Drive Write Speed: 23 MB/s

Where would I get the most bang out of my buck for an upgrade? I can do all the work myself, so the only expense will be the parts themselves.

[vesseblah]

It's not something you like to hear, but there's nothing worth upgrading in that computer. Biggest bang you'd get from buying $200 worth of explosives...

One thing you can do is getting more RAM. It will help some, but it's also dead technology you'd be purchasing and unusable in any computer manufactured in last 2 years or so. One of those $20 sticks should be about the limit of your sensible upgrade options.

[OhpUldum]

Best bang for your buck with $200 is definitely this.

Intel core i3 2100 $125
BIOSTAR H61ML $50
G.Skill 4GB DDR3 1333Mhz $26

Total before taxes or shipping works out to be $201. Best bang for dollar that will be your upgrade right there. When the time comes and the money is there you upgrade the video card and move to Windows 7.

[vesseblah]

Best bang for your buck with $200 is definitely this.
BIOSTAR H61ML $50

No PATA ports and 24+4 pin power on that motherboard. 99% chance that those force upgrading HDD, DVD drive and PSU as well, blowing the budget off by another $100.

[Deleted]

I would save that money and buy a new computer later.

[Orcbert]

Thanks for the input! I'll figure out how long it will take to get a new system vs. a small upgrade now.

[Azuri]

Thanks for the input! I'll figure out how long it will take to get a new system vs. a small upgrade now.

As the others said $200 won't go far for any viable upgrade you preform now it would either be a such a small performance increase or you will get outdated hardware that will cry for updating right away. If you come up with double that money you'll more then double any performance the $200 would get you and have a system that should do you for a couple of years.

Sadly updating an old system is not a smart option regardless of a lack of funds.