CPU Upgrade Signs

I've had this CPU(system) for over 3 years and it's served me well. It's not that i'm looking to upgrade but have noticed that sometimes my CPU usage is 100% and i can't really see why? I've started to notice it more and more of late, I'm starting to think flash video is becoming to demanding. I just went to play portal (rarely play PC Games), I realised my hardware is a bit old... As it struggled to play it. I'm try to avoid upgrading as long possible, What are the signs that people look for when the CPU/system is starting to struggle?

Flash really is a pig, you could try a new browser such as Firefox 4 which supports HTML5, enable HTML5 video on Youtube and see if that helps any. As for signs, well that's for you to decide really, everyone will have different requirements/expectations of performance but I think that CPU should be adequate for normal tasks. You might want to look at the software on your computer/check for viruses/etc to speed things up before considering an upgrade. In most cases, nuking the system and starting from scratch but being careful what you install can make a massive difference. IMO Portal should run fine on that spec, depending on resolution.

The HD3450 does not support flash acceleration using Adobe 10.2 but the HD4000 series and above does:

http://www.nordichardware.com/news/8...sion-apu-.html

If you want to play some games a secondhand HD4670 DDR3/GDDR3 or an HD5670 GDDR5 for around £30 to £40 will do the job as your CPU is still fine for many games IMHO.