Suggestions & upgrade help wanted!

[Stonerose92]

Right guys, I'm new here, how are you all doing..

I'm looking to upgrade my Desktop computer, it's seriously old. I've just been adding parts over time to keep it running well but now I'm considering a very serious upgrade.
I want to increase my processor's clock speed really, but any help in my computer's speed would help. Oh, it's probably best to explain what I use my computer for.. Playing games & recording guitar/vocals (through an audio interface) then editing with software. Ps. I'm a student, and i'm on a tight budget! ;D

Here is a dxdiag run down of my computer, I don't know what you people like to use, but i used dxdiag.. i'm an amateur.

(Processor in bold, and also running 32-bit windows with 4gb RAM.)

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 8/19/2011, 00:14:54
Machine name: HOME-PC
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: EMACHINES
System Model: E4212
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.8GHz
Memory: 3326MB RAM
Page File: 3230MB used, 3645MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 6.00.6001.18000 32bit Unicode
------------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 9500 GT
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Display Memory: 2414 MB
Dedicated Memory: 1007 MB
Shared Memory: 1406 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor
Driver Name: nvd3dum.dll,nvwgf2um.dll,nvwgf2um.dll
Driver Version: 8.17.0012.7533 (English)
DDI Version: 10
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 5/25/2011 07:09:05, 11992680 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
---------------

looking, hope you can help

 

[MIXEDD]

Can you say approximately what's your budget? Also you will need to use 64bit windows so that your windows could recognize 4gigs of ram. As you can see it only recognizes 3.3gigs of ram. Download piriform speccy and post all your hardware here again please.

 

[Tarkus]

I'd say you need a new everything. I couldn't build a complete new system for under $1200, including new LCD monitor, Windows7,mouse, kbd drives, case, PSU, RAM, Video. Other people can, but I have standards. I wouldn't buy a factory machine either, a $1200 home built box is probably better than a $1800 factory system.

There is nothing you can do to upgrade or even re-use anything you have. I was going to say switch to SSD drive but you probably don't even have SATA2.

 

[treetops]

What kind of emachines computer is it? Like a emachines 3600? Does it have agp slots? pci-e? Is that ddr2 ram?

He has a duo core 2.8ghz, a lot games don't even utilize 4x+ cores. I would guess a new video card is the way to go. You probably have agp slots. Why are you running such low resolution? Old monitor? I recommend a lcd monitor bud you can get one around 150$ that shows 1080p hd, 1920x1080 res.

 

[Stonerose92]

For some reason speccy wouldn't run on my system, it just kept crashing on start-up, so I used Belarc Advisor instead, hopefully it sheds a bit more light on my computer's specs than dxdiag.. Oh and the resolution of my computer doesn't really bother me.. More or less the performance of the machine

Operating System
Windows Vista Home Premium Service Pack 1 (build 6001)
Install Language: English (United States)
System Locale: English (United Kingdom)
Installed: 19/04/2007 20:07:12

Processor
2.80 gigahertz Intel Pentium D
16 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (2 total)
Not hyper-threaded

Drives
332.01 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
89.74 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GH22LP20 ATA Device [Optical drive]

Memory
3326 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
Slot 'J6H1' has 2048 MB
Slot 'J6H2' is Empty
Slot 'J6J1' has 2048 MB
Slot 'J6J2' is Empty

Local Drive Volumes
c: (NTFS on drive 0) * 240.39 GB 59.40 GB free
d: (NTFS on drive 0) 9.67 GB 5.10 GB free

Display
NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT [Display adapter]
Dell E193FP [Monitor] (19.1")

 

[Stonerose92]

Can you say approximately what's your budget? Also you will need to use 64bit windows so that your windows could recognize 4gigs of ram. As you can see it only recognizes 3.3gigs of ram. Download piriform speccy and post all your hardware here again please.

Well I've got a really low budget, I'm just looking for some cheaper fixes to increase my performance.