Upgrade to get me two more years

[eatfoodnow]

I have a weak computer. But it was free, made entirely from parts that my neighbor got from his job at HP (old parts either get thrown out or salvaged).

I have an intel 1.8ghz dual core
a 7600GS (fanless)
and 2GB of DDR2 RAM
and my monitor is partially broken and only supports VGA at 1024x768 or 800x600
I play LoL, SC2, and TF2.

Now mind you, my parents have agreed to buy me a Macbook when I graduate high school, so I only need something that can get me until then (sophomore right now).
I want to get Oblivion and probably Borderlands, and whatever else fits my fancy. Nothing special, I just don't want my games to look and run like crap.
I also plan on overclocking my CPU with my neighbor sometime soon, within a few months.

So, I have a few questions:

1. Should I get a newer cheap-o card that will run Oblivion, or is it worth it?

2. Should I try to OC my 7600GS to try and squeeze out those precious fps?

3. Are there any games you'd recommend? (heh heh)

also if you haven't noticed how big of a cheapskate I am already, I am not keen on spending over $60 and will absolutely not go over $100 (not including buying Oblivion).

Also, here is a link to the card that I am 98% sure I have (I don't have any real labeling, this came from my neighbor's house)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130068&cm_re=7600gs-_-14-130-068-_-Product

again, this is about what graphics card (if any) that I should get, not how bad my computer is because it is a hell of a lot better than the netbook I'm typing this up on and it was free.

 

[Wamphryi]

I cant see anything that you could do with that machine on your proposed budget.

 

[wiinippongamer]

Macbook=Way overpriced + underpowered=GAY.

This card will be at least 10x better than what you have:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150449&cm_re=4670-_-14-150-449-_-Product.


OCing your cpu would help alot : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&cm_re=hyper_212%2b-_-35-103-065-_-Product.

Borderlands is a great game, I find it extremely addictive, also dirt 2, mirrors edge and many others.

 

[eatfoodnow]

thanks for replying wiinippongamer!

I had been looking at this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102871&cm_re=5670-_-14-102-871-_-Product

but I didn't like the price of the 5670 and didn't like the reviews about bad Sapphire support.

The 4670 looks really good, and fits into my budget a lot better!

And the 212+, I have read reviews of how good it is before, and was thinking of getting it for when I OC. I have a passive heatsink right now but it seems to be pretty good since it cools my cpu without any fans near it (I'm missing a chassis fan on the back ). I'll see how high I can get with my heatsink, and if needed I'll buy the 212+ since it's so good.

Yeah and about macbooks, yes they are overpriced, but not as much as you'd think considering you don't have to buy any more software, the new OS's are cheap, and you don't have to get annoying third party AV. My dad really wants me to have a mac though, since they're pretty much guaranteed to work 99.9% of the time. I'll still build my own gaming computer once the macbook gets too outdated for gaming on its pc-side.

But anyways, thank you for the suggestion! I'll OC my duo and probably buy that 4670 soon. Sorry I write so much!

 

[wiinippongamer]

Well one don't always have to "buy" the software you know... and there are always free alternatives that are just as good if not better than the paid ones.

But mostly because of the hardware itself, my $1000 PC beats the crap outta the $3500 mac pro on the games, you pay $800 for the hardware and the rest goes on the shiny case and logo.

 

[eatfoodnow]

a $1000 PC can beat the crap out of anything if you know what you're doing haha

yeah but macs really aren't for games, that's why I would dual-boot, since the hardware is still pretty good in a macbook. and by the time I get a macbook, they'll all have SSD which will be awesooooooooome