So is it actually possible to get anything out of bitcoin if you're stuck with relatively low end hardware?
Yes. Buy an ASIC and hook it up to the USB port of your relatively low end hardware.
If you don't want to wait for an ASIC, you can buy an FPGA right now and hook it up to your relatively low end hardware.
If you don't want to buy anything, then your GPU should be able to mine a small amount of bitcoin for the next couple months -- hopefully enough to pay the electricity cost.