Advice on New Hardware

Linkigi(Link-ee-jee)

Okay, so the story here is this: For my birthday (which was in January) my parents have agreed to, if I want, upgrade some of the hardware in my crap-ass computer so it will become somewhat less craptacular. They are willing to spend up to $200 on equipment. I have decided that I will probably want either a new video card or a new processor, and I would appreciate your greater knowledge in these things. My current crap specs out at this:

Windows XP
3 Ghz Celeron processor
128 MB ASUS video card (NVidia 6600 chipset)
1GB RAM (by the way, all my RAM slots are currently filled)
200GB hard drive (I think)
1440 x 900 resolution monitor
(I forget exactly what the motherboard is, and I can't find the box right now)

My parents claim that the motherboard is compatible up to a Core Duo, but I'm slightly skeptical. As for what I'm using it for, I spend the majority of my time playing TF2 or Age of Empires 3, and I'm trying to learn Dwarf Fortress.
Thanks guys!

Zeehat

Ubuntu = free. I'd probably go with a new processor over video card, if that's what you are looking for.

Apreche

The video card is not great, but it's definitely enough for TF2 or AoE3. As for the CPU, it would be a decent upgrade, but you really have to check to make sure the motherboard is compatible. Give all the information you can about the motherboard, and use Google to find if a CPU upgrade is even possible.

Really, it looks to me like you are at the point where spending $200 to upgrade the PC isn't going to be a good investment. Just wait a bit, and then buy a new machine altogether. What you have is decent enough to last awhile.

Spend that $200 on video games.

Omnutia

*Cries inconsolably*