Time to upgrade-- But a little confused..

[toyota]

Nvidia GeForce 8300, I'm not sure if it's a GS or GT or GTS though...

the only 8300 I am aware of is actually built into the motherboard. it is a pretty slow gpu so even an upgrade to a 5670 1gb would be decent upgrade. they are around 75 bucks, after small rebate, on newegg and in your situation that is probably the best option for now.

 

[betasub]

Nvidia GeForce 8300, I'm not sure if it's a GS or GT or GTS though...

I don't think you need worry about the suffix
If you want to game, then it has to go. It's just a matter of picking the right card for your system, games, screen & power supply.
^ Toyota's suggested card looks good.

 

[ronopp]

Christmas is comming....hit santa up for parts and build your own!!! Then the upgrade path is almost unlimited!!

 

[Arkaign]

5670 is a great card. Toyota and Happy Medium are great resources here, even if Toyota is a bit pessimistic with CPU power (I am too, TBH). Still, a 5670 plugged into your current box will be full of win, particularly if you go easy on settings a little bit. In my experience the easiest things to turn down that don't make all that much difference at your native res (1680x1050) are AA and Shadows. High shadows can murder some games and don't really add that much imho.

Next upgrade should be PSU. Keep your original one.

From there, save up and you should be able to buy all of this at the same time :

SB mobo
Low end SB

or

8x0 mobo
PhII X6 / BD

and

4-8GB DDR3
1TB Sata NCQ WD Black
Basic Case
DVDRW+BDReader
Accessories

Should be fairly cheapish to do, perhaps shoot for next spring/summer.

After doing that you may be able to pick up something like 6850 or whatever else is a good value ~$150ish card at that time. Reload your old Dell box with original video and PSU and sell it for $whatever.

Happy gaming!

 

[DylnCox]

Thank you all very very much!!! This is an extremely helpful forum, and I appreciate everything you guys have helped me with.