Getting back into gaming with an '08 PC!

[cmzwirner]

I used to be very into gaming back in 2007/8. I just dug out this computer which i used to use, and i launched a few games. Long story short, i started talking to a few of my old clan members in vent, and now im pretty hooked on PC gaming again..

This time though, i dont want to spend 4 paychecks on a computer. Im actually looking to ressurect this computer with as little money possible. This will be a casual gaming PC. Im not looking to play crysis at max settings!

The current specs are:
AMD X2 5200+ @2.6Ghz
2GB DDR2 shitty RAM (was installed from the factory)
I have no idea what the motherboard brand/model is.
BFG 8800GT 512MB
500W Antec PSU
Stock CPU cooler.

I really only want to play TF2, but when i booted it up and installed TF2, it was extremely laggy with more than 10 people in offline mode. I had 14FPS MAX with 24 bots in the server. I used to run crysis on All High and COD4 maxed on this PC, so i dont think that it is hardware limited..

Any ideas what could be going wrong here? Everything seems to be alright when im casually using it for browsing, but when i play tf2 i get extreme FPS lag. No artifacting, no lines, just lag. My macbook pro C2D can run TF2 better with its 320m for gods sakes!

Im starting to suspect a failing GPU. The computer was used for 2 years by my brother, and he didnt stress the video card at all. Could the 2 years of idling have killed the videocard? I found a local guy looking to sell a GTX260 for $50. I may jump on that.

Any thoughts? Should i just replace the GPU? Im trying to spend as little money as possible!

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Was in the same situation recently. Had an Athlon x2 5400+. 2 gb of ram, 320 gb hard drive, etc.

Someone actually gave me a 1 tb drive after I helped them recover data from it, still worked, but they'd already bought a 2 tb drive.

I purchased 2gb of ram from a guy for 20 bucks to bump me to 4 gb. The other thing I did was upgrade my old 9600gt to a GTS 450(picked mine up for 75-80 after rebate from a microcenter, you can probably get a similar deal on newegg though). Although for 50, a 260 would be a great card, but only thing is you would not get dx11. If I were you, I would research to see what board you've got.

Check this tool out.

http://www.piriform.com/speccy

It's called Speccy, but it's free, most likely it will tell you the board you've got. What I did after all of that, I have an old AM2 board also. But found that with a bios update, my board would accept an Athlon II x4 quad core, grabbed one of those and WOW. Compared to before, the machine is like lightning. Not gonna take out an i7, but for my games and stuff, I'll be happy another year or so, probably upgrade the video card in a few months for a 560 ti or similar card, maybe Windows 7 also, possibly faster ram, but other than that, it'll run till I can build a newer one.

Also, to offset, I sold my Athlon x2 5400+ on ebay, got like 30 bucks out of it. That's where I'd go if I were you man. New video card, 2 gb of ram to start with. If the board takes it, grab an Athlon II or Phenom II x4 and be happy for a little while. You would love the difference.