Upgrades

E3110 is a server processor. It performs similar to an E8400 but runs on lower voltage. It has the latest media encoding instructions but not quite as advanced for gaming.

The E5xxx processors are quite capable and can do a lot. I have an E5300 in my media build.

I think the largest upgrade you can do right now is in your HDD. Get a SSD.
2GB of RAM is plenty for things today. You could upgrade your board, but there is no point really. If you're upgrading the board you might as well go to the 1156 or 1366 platform as that is becoming more mainstream and cheaper.

You could also get a GTX series card. (or if your board supports it, SLI your 250)
 
I think the largest upgrade you can do right now is in your HDD. Get a SSD.

No offense, but that's probably one of the worst upgrade routes he could take. SSDs are very steep on the price/performance ratio. Not only that, but having an SSD would not help him at all in gaming.
 
I don't know what his current HDD is as it's not listed. I just assume it's a 7200 drive. It won't necessarily help him in gaming (except for loading maps quicker - If game is on SSD) but it will really help in bootup and general user experience. There aren't too many options, but if the money is burning a hole in his pocket, a 30GB would be perfect.

I don't mean the largest possible, I mean the largest boost. GTS250 to GTX series card under 300 isn't a terrible large boost. Upgrading to an E8400 would be a fair but not very significant boost. 2GB more RAM, same thing. A new motherboard, sure - but would pretty much dictate a new platform, or a better CPU. By then, he has spent the 300 dollars.

I justify my statement in this:

I'm not satisfied with the overall performance though.

SSD is an "overall performance" (not really in games; Unless on drive) upgrade.
 
You're overestimating the "boost" an SSD will make. So long he keeps his computer free of viruses, spyware, and crapware, he should be fine. A new processor will do him good.
 
I think I'll be going to a core2quad and a new motherboard that allows overclocking. I just don't think the time is right to upgrade my video card, although I certainly would like to in the future. Also believe I will be getting DDR3 ram.
 
True, but I've searched around and haven't found any evidence indicating that The E3110 should perform worse than the E8400 in a gaming environment.
 
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