[PC Help] I'm in need of an upgrade... or two...

So with the recent release of PS2 for the consoles, I've finally been able to get a good taste of PS2 without having to dump upgrades into my PC. However, the console launch has to be one of the worst console launches, even managing to be worse than Assasin's Creed Unity... Yeah...

Anyways, the measly amount of time that I have spent on the console version has got me looking for more. And more can be found on the PC version which, when I played just a little (with like 5 fps) it had much better UI and a better feel. So now I'm looking to upgrade my PC, for PS2 and for the later release of Fallout 4 ;P

My current specs are:

CPU: Pentium Dual Core, 2.60 GHz (x2)
GPU: NVidia GeForce GTX 650
RAM: Crucial 4GB Kit (2GBx2) DDR2 800MHz (crying on the inside)
Motherboard: P5KPL-CM ASUS (http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-ASUS/P5KPL-CM.html) <- has info on it
OS: Win 7 Ult

My PSU, Case, 1TB + 250gb HDD are all fine.

I'm trying not to break 200$ and may be able to get help from my dad, but if you guys had any deals that you've found or suggestions on what to get or where to begin, please feel free.

Right, first I do not know the prices in the US as am based across the pond. But the things I do know about Planetside 2 (I dont play it anymore but I cannot see these points changing);
It is very CPU hungry - I have known people to use I5 4690k's OC'd paired with a GTX 970 (pretty standard combination for a gaming pc at the moment). and still find they are CPU bottlenecked. You can tell which is limiting your fps as it says below the minimap (gfx/cpu)

As the prices in the UK are normally 1:1 with the US (or worse, often the UK has to pay more in GBP than the US pay in USD in pure numerical terms, considerably more if you take exchange rates in to account) I think the 970 would be too much for your budget.
Lets see if other people can help you out who are in the US

best best thing i can say is you need a complete over haul of components. the stuff you posted is old enough not to be able to upgrade easily. that being said keep your 200 and start saving more. you will need somewhere between 600-800 for decent gear for what you are wanting

The GPU, while not the best, is not a bad budget GPU. I was able to run PS2 with it and a AMD 6300 black edition core. You wouln't get 60 FPS but with a strong cpu you should be able to play at around 24-30 FPS. I would start by upgrading your motherboard and core to a modern family, then fixing that woeful RAM issue you have. Basically, unless you need to play Witcher 3 or ARK, your GPU should be the last thing you personally upgrade.

Your bottleneck right now is your cpu. Unfortunately in order to upgrade to a descent cpu you will need to upgrade the motherboard and since ddr2 is no longer supported you will need to upgrade the ram to ddr3.

You will need about $300 to be playable on planetside. Your gpu should be fine if you can do a mild overclock.

Rough Estimate:
4gb ddr3 $50
motherboard $100
cpu $150

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AOD_Lissajester

best best thing i can say is you need a complete over haul of components. the stuff you posted is old enough not to be able to upgrade easily. that being said keep your 200 and start saving more. you will need somewhere between 600-800 for decent gear for what you are wanting

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+1, Fall/November is coming, there are ALOT of good deals that go on around then on Newegg.com and other sites. Like Lissajester said, due to the age of your hardware(your running a board w/ a G31 Chipset[GA775] and DDR2 DIMMS) When you save a good bit of money you can always sell the PC for $100 or so on craigslist, then use that to get to your new build "budget goal". If not, I'd keep the card, it can serve many purposes, youd be surprised; And sell components individually, which would be MUCH more difficult, almost impossible unless you wanted to mark them down SIGNIFICANTLY.