In need of upgrade advice, $250 budget

[Caboose_is_loose]

A friend turned me on to PC gaming. His PC can play Bf3 with all high setting, where if I even tried to play Half Life 2 on medium setting with mine it would probably burst into flames.

Here's what I got: HP Pavilion Media Center a1510n/ AMD anthlon 64 processor 3800+ 2.4ghz/ geforce 6150 LE/ 1 GB Ram/ Running Windows 8

What would be a good graphics card and processor to get for a $250 budget? Or at least be able to play Battle Field 3?

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

Does your media center have a pcie slot? They ussually get the cheapest mobo possible that will get the job done. Since it is a media center I assume you can only fit low profile so this is the best you could do. Is it am2?
if so this is the best you can get for cpu.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-Phenom-8550-X3-2-2GHz-HD8550WCJ3BGH-am2-am2-2-2-/330763713620?pt=CPUs&hash=item4d030dbc54
Someone correct me if I am wrong. I'm not sure if that works in an am2 slot but I think it does. Then if you really wanted a strong gpu low profile you could get a japanese low profile 6850 but they usually sell for about 350+. to be able to tell if it is low profile tell me the measurements for the expansion slots on the case.

EDIT

Those parts are really old though. It is getting to the point where parts will be more expensive just because they aren't around that often anymore. I am pretty sure that you have a single core CPU. It might be smart to just get a new computer. You can build a computer now for $500 that will play most games on high settings, some on ultra. Yes if you want to build a computer for that budget you will need to do some bargain hunting but it is very possible. I personally think it might be smarter to just doe that.

 

[Caboose_is_loose]

Does your media center have a pcie slot? They ussually get the cheapest mobo possible that will get the job done. Since it is a media center I assume you can only fit low profile so this is the best you could do. Is it am2?
if so this is the best you can get for cpu.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-Phenom-8550-X3-2-2GHz-HD8550WCJ3BGH-am2-am2-2-2-/330763713620?pt=CPUs&hash=item4d030dbc54
Someone correct me if I am wrong. I'm not sure if that works in an am2 slot but I think it does. Then if you really wanted a strong gpu low profile you could get a japanese low profile 6850 but they usually sell for about 350+. to be able to tell if it is low profile tell me the measurements for the expansion slots on the case.

EDIT

Those parts are really old though. It is getting to the point where parts will be more expensive just because they aren't around that often anymore. I am pretty sure that you have a single core CPU. It might be smart to just get a new computer. You can build a computer now for $500 that will play most games on high settings, some on ultra. Yes if you want to build a computer for that budget you will need to do some bargain hunting but it is very possible. I personally think it might be smarter to just doe that.

Building a new one would be a lot less of a headache and I can increase my budget. As stated before I am new so I have little knowledge of where to start building but I've done a little research. I'm gonna go with a am3 motherboard, would this one be a good start?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4809422&CatId=4296

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

That looks good. But remember $120 is after rebate not before. If you are trying to go really cheap go for all the rebates. Other sites to look on for parts are newegg and amazon, I personally like more than Tiger. IF you really need to go cheap though you can get used parts on ebay, but that can be risky.

 

[Caboose_is_loose]

That looks good. But remember $120 is after rebate not before. If you are trying to go really cheap go for all the rebates. Other sites to look on for parts are newegg and amazon, I personally like more than Tiger. IF you really need to go cheap though you can get used parts on ebay, but that can be risky.

Alright I'll try newegg and other places, I can afford to extend my budget by about $200. Thanks for your help so far.

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

You might have some trouble with a gaming PC for that low of a budget but it is doable. I can give part suggestions if you want.

 

[Caboose_is_loose]

You might have some trouble with a gaming PC for that low of a budget but it is doable. I can give part suggestions if you want.

I would greatly appreciate if you did suggest parts, thank you.

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

I am making this assuming that you can carry over you hard drive and disc drive from your old PC. To check make sure it is plugged into the mobo using sata connectors.
CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103953
mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186189
ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231421
case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154094
PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153165
graphics card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130661
Also get windows 7 from amazon if you have prime if not it's $100 on newegg.
All of this comes to about $470. Say if anything needs to be revised because you will not be able to use you dvd and/ or hard drive.

 

[Caboose_is_loose]

I am making this assuming that you can carry over you hard drive and disc drive from your old PC. To check make sure it is plugged into the mobo using sata connectors.
CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103953
mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186189
ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231421
case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154094
PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153165
graphics card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130661
Also get windows 7 from amazon if you have prime if not it's $100 on newegg.
All of this comes to about $470. Say if anything needs to be revised because you will not be able to use you dvd and/ or hard drive.

Thanks for the suggestions, everything looks good. I'm gonna try and go bigger with the mobo and case.