Upgrading PC, questions.

[Tshirtwisdom]

Hey all,
First off, here's my current PC specs:
AMD64 X2 3800 S939
2GB DDR550 RAM
GeForce 6800 Ultra
Enermax 460W PSU
Windows Vista Home Premium.

Right now the games that I play run sluggish and Windows Vista is down right awful at times with how long it takes to tab out or load a simple application. On Windows XP this system screamed not too long ago, but once I upgraded to Windows Vista my gaming performance just shot way down, since none of it is DX10 compatible would be my guess. What I'm wanting to do is upgrade a couple parts to try to get good performance again.

Would it to worth it buying a older top end X2 S939 processor to save a little money, or are the new socket types just so much faster? And if so, what would you recommend?

Also, what would you recommend as a "budget" high end graphics card? Somewhere in the $300 range.

Just trying to keep things simple as I don't want to upgrade my whole computer, just mainly the CPU and Graphics Card, as everything else is in line.

 

[Evolv]

If you look for an older top end s939 processor, it will be ridiculously expensive. There are s393 Athlon X2 4400s going for like $100 and above, which is a rip off. You're better off upgrading your motherboard/cpu/ram with a socket AM2/AM2+. You will get more for your money and better performance overall. It might sound like a lot to upgrade but the prices on this stuff aren't that bad.

And if you upgrade to a $300 card without a cpu upgrade, the 3800 will really bog down your gaming performance. Note that Vista uses more resources, which is why your experiencing lag and slowdown. It would be best to upgrade to 4Gb of ram.

Here is a good combo deal:
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

This one if you want to spend less, but still get good performance:
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

Then either one paired with this ram:
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

You don't have to spend $300 for a video card. Depending on what resolution you play your games at, the ATI 4850 & 4870 are very affordable and can run most games very well. If you're looking for a $300 card then check out the 4850x2:
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100260SR Radeon HD 4850 X2 1GB 512-bit (2 x 256-bit) GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

You'll more than likely have to upgrade the power supply too.