Upgrade old PC

[OutOfLocke]

Hello!

I have a Gateway GM5485E Desktop from 2007 or 2008, I can't remember. I am an avid PC gamer and as you will see I am in desperate need for an upgrade to keep up with current games. I do not want to start over, I want to upgrade my PC gradually, because I do not have the money to do it up front. Originally I was going to do this on my own, but figured a little professional help could never hurt. I would like to upgrade my PC in the following order if possible:

RAM
Graphics Card
Tower^(if those don't fit in the one I have)
Motherboard
GPU

My Current Specs:

OS: Vista Home 32 bit (Will eventually be getting W7 64)
RAM: 1.98GB (Expandable to 8GB, 4 DDR2 Slots with max 2GB per slot)
Graphics: Nvidea GeForce 8500 GT
Motherboard:Intel Corporation, Model DG33XG2, Version AAD94468-402
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad CPU at 2.40 GHz
Type: Desktop
PSU: 500 (I think and I have no idea how to check, if you could help me find out it that would be great)
Wishlist:

8GB RAM (Preferably in 2GB sticks, so I can use it with 32bit and eventually expand)
EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti Video Card (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=3669)

Budget Situation:

I will have around $250 dollars by September 12. Try to improve the performance as much as possible with that. Then around December I should have $250-300, to finish off the upgrades. The idea is that I upgrade my PC gradually, to be able to keep playing games until December as opposed to just buying a 600 dollar PC. Also, I would like to be able to run Elder Scrolls Skyrrim reasonably well on the PC (Better than Xbox at least, or there is no point except mods) which comes out in November. That is the reason I want as much improvement as soon as possible, mainly in RAM and Graphics.

Thanks in advance, and if you need anymore info let me know!

[RickyTick]

Replacing all the components one piece at a time spread out over a long period of time is really a waste of money. To be honest, you're much better off just building a completely new system from scratch.

However, if you just want to get this system to play games decently, then there is some options.

First off, with a 32-bit OS, you can only utilize about 3.5gb of ram. It doesn't matter how many sticks of ram you have, 3.5 is the max it will read. You could go ahead and install a 4gb kit of 2 sticks at 2gb each. This alone will make a noticeable improvement on your system responsiveness.

Next, you could upgrade the video card. The GTX550Ti is an nice card, especially if you can get for less than $120. It's not a super powerhouse, but it will do just fine.

Stop there. Don't dump anymore money into an obsolete system. Save up and build a killer system maybe next year.