Hmmm, before I toss out my 2 cents, it might be worth your time to post a sandra Report on your current PC(look for the link near the top named "
Help Us Help You" for info on that) so the experts here can look it over and see if any worthwhile upgrade is possible(but I'm betting its a waste of time/money
)
Having said that, your best option is to spend some money here. You really need to move up to PT11 at the least(to get compatibility with the plugins you want) and 64 bit is a game changer! But it does require a less-ancient PC(but you still can work on a reasonable budget here). The good news is, the 003 rack will still work(I am using one on windows 10 PRO with Pro Tools 2019.5 here)
If you(or someone you know) can build a PC from parts, scout eBay for a used combo package with an intel i7 6-core cpu, an X79 motherboard and 16(or 32) GB of RAM(the x79 chipset is known compatible). A quick search on eBay shows several at well under $500
. Your old PC might have some parts that can be re-used, BUT, some parts will need an update. Power supply should be at least 650 watts(old one probably is not). Hard drives(and optical) need to be SATA(yours are probably IDE). Your old sessions drive can be copied over to a new SATA drive(and stick it inside a USB drive case for backup and access). Get a 500GB SSD for your new system drive($100-150). Graphics: a modest nVidia card under $50 is fine). DVD-RW drives are under $30 on sale. If the new(er) motherboard has no firewire, a compatible card is under $50. Still under $750 easily
I know you want to keep it cheap, but your musical needs outweigh the desire to be frugal. I would actually leave the old PC untouched, on the chance that you need to re-open old sessions WITH the old plugins you are now using(this happens more than you think).