Hey there! Just a bit of storytelling before I outline my issue just so it might be more clear.
Storytime:
I bought a Dell Inspiron 3650 Intel Core i7 desktop for my birthday last year. My birthday that year happened to fall on Black Friday, so I was rushing in between then and Cyber Monday to find a good deal for a pc that I desperately needed. I'm a teenager with too much free time, so I quite enjoy gaming. Therefore, I wanted to buy something that could be good to do my homework on and game. However, this all came with a catch. My parents, who helped fund me in buying the pc, wanted two things. It had to be pre-built, because my dad had once tried building a pc and it failed miserably. And also, they wanted it to be from what they considered a "reputable" company so that if any issues arose, customer support wouldn't be too much of a hassle. So that meant no iBuyPower or another gaming computer company like that, but Dell or Hp or another company like them. So, with little time remaining, I decided to buy this pc: http://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/cty/pdp/spd/inspiron-3650-desktop/cai3650w7pb223
Now, a year has passed since then, and I'm kind of regretting not pushing harder against not building my own, or at least getting one from something besides Dell. (Especially since I've really gotten into Linus' channel, and my friends are now all buying and building monster pc's a year after mine). So naturally, I'm trying to find out ways to minimize problems and improve performance without buying a new pc.
Problems:
For the past year, I've had some really frustrating performance issues and I don't quite know how to fix them. Firstly, my computer takes forever to launch, like a good 5-10 minutes for Discord and Steam to launch on startup. (Just to clarify, this isn't due to a virus protections system, because I have none other than Windows Defender). Besides that, I've found that lower-level games like Paladins, Rocket League, and CS:GO work pretty well, with me getting anywhere between a constant 60-100 fps on higher settings (still quite not maximum on some games). However, for some games, it's not quite so good. ARK, for example, I get a pretty constant 40 fps on medium-low settings, and Star Wars Battlefront II can get about 50-60 but rather inconsistently.
What I'm Looking For:
What I'm really looking for is certainly faster startup for my computer itself and the programs and games in it. What I've heard about and been researching is a new graphics card (because I know mine isn't that good), and also an SSD on top of my HDD to put my OS on. However, I'm not sure if these will be viable options, and if it's really those things which are choking my system in the ways listed above. I'm not too tech savvy besides the immediate parts and what they do. I don't know if an upgrade for my graphics card will even help my system that much, and besides that I don't even honestly know if a new graphics card will be compatible with my motherboard and even fit inside my pc.
Screen:
Oh ya, one thing that I forgot to mention is that my current resolution for my screen itself is 1920x1080. Also, here's the link to my screen: ( http://bit.ly/2AhCmXG ). Honestly, I'm not sure if that has anything to do with anything, but it's just something I figured I might as well add.
Question:
Okay now that I think I've gotten everything out of the way, I'll try and basically just ask my question without sounding too cheesy or inexperienced. What parts can you guys see that could be bottlenecking my system, and how could I prevent those problems? I'm open to replacing a few parts or even my monitor to improve overall performance, however I just bought a new phone and I don't have all that much cash to work with, so please nothing to break the bank.
Thank you all for your answers and I really do appreciate any help or opinions! Besides of course, the people who just tell me I'm an idiot for buying a main brand pre-built pc, because I already know that.