About to upgrade my computer. What should I upgrade first?

[flex3232]

Hi. I've been thinking of replacing the components of my computer. I was thinking of replacing the motherboard and the graphics card for better gaming experience, though I tend to play lighter games with less eye-ripping graphics. Just so you know how bad is my computer, Need for Speed The Run still lags even when running it with the lowest possible graphics and 640x480 screen resolution, ha ha. I'd be happy to play those kind of games in medium/high graphics. No need for very high/ultra graphics.

System
Operating Sytem : Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
BIOS : Bios Date: 12/04/08 Ver 08.00.14
Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9400 @ 2.66 GHz (4 CPUs) ~ 2.7 GHz
Memory : 4096MB
Page file : 2223MB used, 5965MB Available
DirectX Version : Direct X 11
Motherboard : Intel P5QSE

Display
Name : ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
Manufacturer : Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Chip Type : ATI display adapter 0x9440
DAC Type : Internal DAC (400MHz)
Approx Total Memory : 2296 MB
Current Display Mode : 1360 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor : Generic PnP Monitor

 

[wolfeking]

first off, your CPU should be fine, as is your motherboard. If you have good cooling, then try overclocking it. That will net you a good performance increase.
If you insist on upgrading them, then grab a i5-3570k and a Z77X-UD3H motherboard with 8GB of DDR3-1866 and you will be fine also. It should be a very good upgrade from what you have.

Your graphics card is pretty strong as is, especially for your resolution. If you insist on an upgrade, look at a HD7850 or HD 7870GHz to replace it.