Looking to beef up retail desktop

Guys I have a Gateway desktop model GM 5626 and I would like to beef it up a bit to make it more efficient for gaming. I figure the key parts that I need to look at would be the CPU, RAM and PSU. The CPU is an E2180 Dual Core. The PSU is 300 watt and I currently have 3 GB RAM and can go up to 4GB. I have a pretty nice graphics card which is a Nvidia 9800 GTX which will hold me for now. I know that my power supply is under powering my graphics card, so that might be my first target. But I have been told that the E2180 Dual Core is slow, so Im kind of stuck as to what I should do. Please keep in mind that I have only in recent months started PC gaming, so I dont have any intention of building a new rig just yet. I simply want to make my existing desktop better for as little $$$ as possible. Thanks!

What games are you looking to play?

The 9800GT reccomended PSU wattage is 450W. So your current PSU is a little underpowered.

How mcuh are you looking to spend on these upgrades?

What games are you looking to play?

The 9800GT reccomended PSU wattage is 450W. So your current PSU is a little underpowered.

How mcuh are you looking to spend on these upgrades?

EddieTheHead84

Do you know the dimensions of your case? Some (most) of those prebuilt brand comps use nonstandard cases that make fitting new components difficult...

Is this your desktop model?

http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/gateway-gm-5626-p/1707-3118_7-32716562.html

I notice that the RAM is a little slow and your motherboard is a little problematic as well. I'm not too sure but I'll wait for someone with a bit more knowledge to help out as I think it'd be a bit of a hassle to uprgrade.

CPU is gonna be really hard to find. The E2180 is a Conroe chip which uses 65nm chips. That's already from 2007 and yours happens to be a Allendale subset of Conroe, the best you can find is probably the E6300 or E6400, but im not sure if the mobo supports it, the gateway site is a bit vague.

http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/R/1014735R/1014735Rnv.shtml?rdr=v1342

go components and the mobo, it doesnt list exact CPU compatibility.

What is the model of your PC? It sounds an awful lot like the one described in this recent thread. The more information you provide the better we are able to help you.

Happy gaming,

Boz