How much does it cost to upgrade a computer?

[NBSN]

Unfortunately your system is pretty outdated right now, but its great it has lasted this long. Based on what you state as the specs, it looks like you will need to update the CPU, RAM, Motherboard, and OS to get the computer up to date. Your RAM is DDR2 and a pretty slow speed, so you will need to go for some DDR3 1600 MHz or better and at least 4 GB of it. You need to replace the motherboard so that it will support better RAM as well as a better CPU. I would advise you to go for a dual channel memory supporting motherboard and a single 4 GB RAM module for now and to upgrade with another 4 GB later on. Unless you really feel as though this build should last more than three or four years, in which case I would advise you to get one 8 GB RAM module and add another 8 GB in a year or two. Whatever you feel is best since there are no games that require 8 GB of RAM right now, although there are some that recommend it. So if within a few years some games should require 8 GB RAM and recommend probably 12 GB.

For your CPU, a quad core should be what you are aiming for. A 3.0 GHz quad core CPU, should be fine for another few years, but will require you to replace the motherboard to do so. I don't know what sort of power supply you have for your current system, but you would need to consider replacing it based on the power needs for the upgraded system you are trying to build.

Your graphics card is not horrible...and I am sure you understand that it will not play graphics intensive games like Battlefield 3/4 on ultra settings. Since you recently upgraded that, I doubt that you plan on switching that out anytime soon, so you may want to take a look at motherboards that offer SLI capabilities in case you find another GTX 650 on sale and want to try running them together.

The OS needs to be at least to Windows 7 now, and depending on how much RAM you plan on putting into your system you will need to choose different versions of it. What sort of budget are you looking at? And what size is your case? That information would affect whether or not you could get cheaper on the build or not. More than likely if you get to reuse your case and power supply, you would still end up paying about $500 or maybe more for a decent upgrade.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/NBSN/205302762950470 if you have any more questions.

Note: AMD core and Intel cores are not the same. That is why an 8 core AMD CPU costs the same as a 4 core Intel CPU.