Hi,

I have an 'old' Alienware M17x R1 which I got a long time ago. It served me well and now it seems to not handle the basic games that I want to play such as Skyrim and the sorts. It can play Crysis and dead space so I think it might just be that games are much more demanding now 

I'm still saving for either a good gaming pc or a console so don't want to spend much and was wondering if I could make it able to tide me over until I do?

I don't know what if any upgrades can even be done let alone worth it so I have listed the specs below. Please can someone help with what can be done? I'm looking to see what components can be upgraded including the GPU, RAM, and maybe the HDD and even the CPU although that's new territory for a novice like me 

@mattyb3 I have read some of your other posts and you sound like you have a good idea where to begin.

GPU - ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870