Upgrading my PC soon

[Zombiedude101]

Over christmas I've found myself now having £279 to spend (Not counting the £40 worth of vouchers for Game), and have thus decided to use the money to fund the upgrading of my PC (Or if failing that wait longer and get a custom PC built). Just to note I'm not actually going to do it myself (I don't trust myself enough plus I don't know enough at the moment), but rather have the components fitted at a shop in the town near where I live. By the time I'll be paying for it a month or two will have passed and thus I should have an extra 40-80 pounds by then (Plus on February 20th it's my 15th birthday so I'll be getting money then). Here's my PC's important specs:

Windows 7 64-bit
Intel i3 550 3.2 Ghz processor
1.9 GB DDR3 RAM (I've got 2GB physical but only 1.9 useable)
Intel GMA HD graphics (Suprisingly this IGPU's served me well when it comes to Source engine games but in stuff like ArmA II it's faults show)
320GB Hard Drive
The PSU may be 250W, I'm a litle unsure. Either way it'll definitely need upgrading.

I'm mainly focussed on getting the GPU and the PSU (As without the latter being upgraded the former's gonna be a bitch) upgraded, then if I've got any spare money left over I'll add an extra GB or two of RAM.

Here's what model of PC (eMachines ET1862) I currently have (Just to note there's a few differences between my PC and those in the links, namely RAM, Hard Drive and processor):

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/200541
http://www.cclonline.com/product/55800/PT-NBVE2-004/All-Systems/eMachines-ET1862-Desktop-PC/SYS1643/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/eMachines-ET1862-Desktop-Windows-Premium/dp/B003P2V9CS

So, is it worth upgrading my PC or should I just see if I can scrape together more money to get a gaming PC built, and what would be the best hardware for me to get that'd be in my price range for the former.

 

[Mid]

Are you only gonna have the 1 hard drive?

 

[Zombiedude101]

IDK, I might get another (Or get a 500GB portable hard drive) but I'm focussed on upgrading on what I mentioned.

 

[Mid]

Just get two HDs. One for your system (the smaller one) and one for your viddy games (the larger one)

 

[Zombiedude101]

I'll think about it. Anyhow, could someone give me suggestions in regards to upgrading/getting a custom built PC.

 

[Luke]

I'd wait on the hard drive, they're expensive right now due to the flooding.

If you get a high end video card your processor might bottleneck your FPS, and your PSU will certainly not support any decent cards in the first place.
More RAM would also be good to have, and it's relatively cheap especially DDR3.

Damn, you practically need to replace everything for a proper rig. Not enough money for that, you're at that zone of ambiguity when it comes to upgrading your PC.

 

[Zombiedude101]

Personally I think the CPU's the least of my worries. I just want to up my GPU and my PSU, then (Because it's sold cheaply at a big shop near my home) get some more RAM. What would be the best of such to get?

 

[Luke]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.785122

A pretty nice deal, not cheap of course, but you get a high end GPU and a power supply that can way more than power it and anything you throw at it... Which is a bit of a problem, this thing is TOO powerful, It'll seriously run up your energy bill. Hell, I'm running on just a 530 watt and still got a GTX 465 and an AMD phenom II x6 with room for overclocking. People exaggerate how much power you actually need.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealD'etails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.785029

There's also this one, not that great a deal, but it's got a rather good GPU and a power supply that'll run it without having ridiculous amounts of power left over.

And here's some nice cheap 4 gigs of RAM, a cheap upgrade which will have good results especially if you choose to use W7.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231394


Just my quick search through newegg.

 

[ShadowDragon]

Reminds me of mine, but it's a bit stronger ovarhere.

 

[spezzy]

The HD 6850 that I've got is an amazing card for the price, hasn't faulted at all when it comes to games like Bad Company 2, Crysis, Skyrim (all on their max settings). Definitely a very good card for your budget. To be honest you don't need to splash out at all on the PSU, just look for a good brand like OCZ and look for around 650/700W.

 

[Zombiedude101]

I've also a concern that the new components (Especially the GPU) won't fit inside my PC case. Will I have an issue with that?

 

[Luke]

I've also a concern that the new components (Especially the GPU) won't fit inside my PC case. Will I have an issue with that?

Do you have a full or large case? The components usually list their dimensions somewhere, time to take out the ol' tape measure.

 

[ShadowDragon]

Do you have a full or large case? The components usually list their dimensions somewhere, time to take out the ol' tape measure.

Should've asked if mATX or ATX.

 

[deejay]

>upgrading a shitty computer.

custom built master race here. oh nothing, just enjoying my superior air flow with cooler master.

 

[Luke]

>upgrading a shitty computer.

custom built master race here. oh nothing, just enjoying my superior air flow with cooler master.

Large metal case that still uses screws to secure video card, has lots of holes cause of missing parts... Keep the large open side against the wall, stock coolers.
Runs at 115% efficiency.

 

[Mid]

Don't bother spending money on flash cases unless looks really do bother you. You can get a bloody huge case for about 30 pounds but you gotta make sure that all the fans that you'll buy will fit ect.

 

[spezzy]

I've also a concern that the new components (Especially the GPU) won't fit inside my PC case. Will I have an issue with that?

Some of the ATI hards are huge (the HD 6XXXs), so that might be an issue if you've got a mini-ATX, but chances are you will have an ATX in a desktop.

and yes, custom built master race