I want to upgrade my PC and get a new monitor

[MagneticHaze]

Well, this is my first time on these forums and i'm looking for a new monitor and to upgrade some other stuff. (I'll explain later.) So, first off, with the monitor! I want a hd, high resolution monitor and I want it to be high quality, look sharp ect. I think 200 is my limit.
Next, tf2, l4d2, and cod run really slow on my pc when I get near groups of people, intense battles ect. These are the specs I could find in my control panel
Dell Dimension DIME521
AMD Athlon(tm) 64 x2 Dual
Core Processor 3800+
1.00 ghz, 1.00 gb of ram
It runs on Xp and I have a GeForce 9500 GT.
I'm new to this so I don't know if I should mention any other specs. So i'm looking to make my computer run faster;What should I do and what should I buy? (I'm kind of short of time so thats why I posted this here.)

 

[red1776]

Hi Magnetic,
something like this would serve you well I think. You are probably running into issues with only 1GB of ram as well, you probably want to at least double that. BTW your CPU runs at 2.2Ghz, that's in power saving mode you are seeing.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236090
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150462&cm_re=hd_5770-_-14-150-462-_-Product

 

[EXCellR8]

any and all information on the system is best

CPU is pretty slow and you def need more physical memory (RAM) - 2-3GB would be ideal on XP

chances are you will need to swap motherboards in order to fully benefit from an upgrade. the games you posted aren't too demanding, but you will need some better hardware to get better frames. 9500GT isn't a bad card for gaming, but you may want something that packs a bit more of a punch, say a 9800GT(X) or so. of course you will want to upgrade to a more powerful PSU if you go with a more demanding graphics card.

as for the monitor there are plenty of good options for under $200. you could probably even go with 1080p if you wanted to, which is 1920x1080. for brands i recommend Acer, Dell, HP, LG and Samsung. important credentials include response time <8ms and contrast ratio. 20000:1 is good while 40000:1 would be superb.

 

[JMMD]

If this is the CPU you have: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+, it runs @ 2.0GHz. At least according to the info I've seen.

A faster processor is a possibility but you can't get that much faster with that platform. You can replace the video card but then you may need to upgrade the power supply and the CPU may bottleneck the GPU.

 

[louarnold]

In my experience, it is cheaper to buy a new computer with perhaps twice what is recommended on the specs for the games. Adding memory usually isn't a problem unless you have to go to a higher density format; then it can get expensive. I tried upgrading the pieces of a computer system some years ago. In the end I paid some 25% more than the cost of a new system.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Get another two gigs of RAM and an HD 4770\5750.

What are the specs on your PSU? As recommended above, if you need a new PSU along with other components, you might be better off building a new system, especially if you're getting a screen with a resolution of 1680x1050 or higher.