Hello there,
i want to play Bioshock 2 (system Requirements) and using system requirements lab it has said my video card fails on minimum requirements and my processor and video card fails recommended requirements.

although i only really need a video card upgrade, i would also like to upgrade the processor (is this an easy task??)

i have a Gateway GM5046b pc and i have spent the last two hours researching this, and to be honest its blowing my mind! cos it says it has an "AM2 socket" and takes "939 sockets" however they seem to be completely different things (from what i gather from Wikipedia))

Here is a link to my motherboard on gateways website

atm i have a AMD Athlon 4200+ processor and 3GB of RAM and i am really confused

however they seem to be completely different things

The 939 and AM2 CPUs are different internally, but the AM2 also has 939 pins and will physically fit in a 939 socket.

A word of warning. According to the specs in your computer link above, you only have a 300 watt power supply. That is not very big and probably will need to be upgraded before buying a new graphics card. When researching your new card, looks at the recommended PSU ratings. If not listed check another brand that uses the same GPU and RAM. Or you can use a http://www.d-a-l.com/help/general-ha...alculator.html.

thank you for the quick reply, i have got a 650w supply from a friend who recently upgraded his supply. installed and working fine.

so, i can buy an AM2 socket or 939 socket.

if so which is best, basically i want it to be able to play that game, and add a bit more for future stuff.

Your motherboard is an AM2 motherboard. That's what you should buy. I would check with Gigabyte tech support to ensure any CPU you choose will work.

Do not get confused about the 939 thing. AMD was just saving money by using the same pin count sockets. But the type CPU is determined by the chipset, not really the socket.