Next upgrade for PC?

Erriiieeee

Here are my specs:

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8400 @ 3.00GHz, 3000 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
Installed Physical Memory (RAM): 8.00 GB
Adapter Description: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT
Adapter RAM 1024.00 MB (
Motherboard: nForce 680i SLI SPP/ nForce 680i SLI MCP

What would be the next cost efficient upgrade? I'm running Windows 7 32bit Home but I've managed to bypass the 4gb ram limit so I've maxed that out. My CPU isn't the best and it takes a beating when I run Natural Selection. Maybe a new video card? What do you all think?

ScardyBob

Your best bet is a new system. Any money put into that one is going to be wasted. Here are some decent cheap builds for gaming:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pc-gaming-overclock-build-a-pc,3443.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/budget-gaming-do-it-yourself-computer,3364.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/380358-31-bestconfigs-poll-budget-based-gaming
http://www.tomshardware.com/system-configuration-recommendation-54.html

Zaggy

As your current motherboard cannot house a new CPU, I'd advice looking into buying a new pc, more specifically an i5 CPU or equivalent and a high end videocard, AMD 77**/79** or Nvidia GTX 6**, if you have the budget add in a SSD for OS/apps.

Tomshardware has some nice recommendations:
CPU: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-3.html
GPU: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-4.html

Apologies in advance for your wallet.

Talesin

Yep. Time to put that old hoss out to pasture. Aren't going to bring anything across aside from the hard drives (maybe, assuming they're SATA), case and power supply.
Better idea to grab a new drive, slap Linux on it and sell it off as an email/browsing machine, and use the proceeds to buy new gear.

shonan

Yeah, sell your old one and buy a new.

Ironsoul

I would recommend getting a non overclocking in mind haswell setup. A 7790 or better graphics card for NS2 (7790 being a genuine option for 1080p ns2, get better if you can comfortably afford it).

Talesin

Skip the Haswell for now. The C1 model has a stepping problem. Wait for the C2 revision to come out, and see if they actually fix it first. Not worth the headache of dealing with that.