How to make my PC better for gaming

Please help a Dad make his kid’s Christmas magical on-the-cheap. My son is 10 and he plays Minecraft 24/7 but his PC renders the worlds too slowly. I can’t afford a new gaming PC so how can I beef up the one we have? It’s a Win 7 HP Pavillion P6803W AMD Anthlon X2 220 2.80 Ghz with 4GB ram 64 bit. Would it help if I added memory? I know it’s not a very powerful PC, but shouldn’t this be able to handle Minecraft? Would I be better off adding memory or a dedicated video card? It has an integrated ATI Radeon 4200 video card now. It almost handles the game, but not quite.

Thanks Guys

 

why dont you try Minetest (alternative to minecraft) I believe it runs on lower spec machines, even better if you use linux

 

I would, but all his friends play Minecraft on his server

 

This is the info I need, thanks again DDP, can you tell me about what a 6 core will run me?

 

I'm hoping to keep it in the $200 range, much more and I'd likely just look to buy a pre-owned PC already loaded. I saw that ramped up 6 can be had for about $65 on Ebay which leaves the power source and a vid-card...and thanks for always following through.

 

Will this "Ultra 500 Watt" suffice? Lots of connector choices
1x 6pin pcie
1x 20+4 pin
3x 4 pin peripheral
1x 4pin aux
1x 8pin 12v power connecter
2x SATA

500 Max Watts
ATX
Model number ULT-LS500
AC Input 115-230V
Input Frequency 50-60Hz
Input Current 10A-115VAC
6A-230VAC

 

Or this;
Brand New Upgrade Replacement Dual Fan 500 Watt ATX Power Supply 500 Watt 24/20-pin ATX Computer PC Power Supply w/SATA
Dual Silent Fan Cooling System
Short Circuit & Over Voltage Protection
Thermal Overload Cut-off Protection
Complies With ATX 12V 2.0 Version
Support Intel and AMD Processors
Supports Serial ATA
connectors: 1 x 20/24 pin main motherboard connector, 4 x Peripherals connector, 2 x SATA connector,1 x floppy connector, 1 x Pentium 4 connector, 1 x PCI-E PCI-Express connector. wires come with wire sleeve for easy management.


PEAK SURGE MAX OUTPUT 500W
MTBF 100,000 hrs at ambient conditions
Efficiency 70% Min. at full load
Overvoltage Protection On all outputs
Shortage Protection On all outputs
Cooling Ball bearing
Noise Level Maximum