Heyyo,
You should easily be able to play modern games. Heck, I think your computer's even stronger than mine!
Ok, download that 3D Mark 2003, and benchmark your comp, it'll give you a number, that number will tell you how strong your computer is. Give it a shot man, and post your number here, Later on tday I'll dig mine outta my comuter once I get home.... anyone else wanna see how well our computers stack up against eachother? get it, n' let's see.
[EDIT]
TRUST me, you made the right choice with HP. Don't get a compaq whatever you do! they're just the low-end line of HP since HP baught out Compaq. Even before Compaq was baught out their comps sucked cause of how hard it is to upgrade those buggers...