CPU/MoBo or GPU upgrade?

[cirenosille]

Hey everyone I'm preparing for Skyrim and trying to figure out if I could get just as much bang for my buck if i upgraded to an SLI setup with two nvidia GTX 460 cards (I currently have one) or if it would make more sense to just upgrade my mobo/cpu/memory

current specs:

MoBo: EVGA 780i
CPU: E8400 3.00Ghz
Memory: 4GB DDR2 800
PSU: Zalman 850W
GPU: EVGA GTX 460

So I'm thinking of either buying another GTX 460 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162058 ) for SLI or buying the following:

MoBo: Asus P8P67 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131705 )
CPU: i5-2400 Sandy Bridge ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074 )
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB DDR3 1600

The gpu upgrade looks nice because it's a 3rd of the price of the alternative, but if there won't be more than a slight improvement I'll get the multiple upgrades and stick with one gpu.

 

[Proximon]

I would say just OC the CPU and grab the GTX 460... but the 780i makes me nervous. Those Nvidia boards had heat issues and there aren't actually a lot left in use.

I think you will need a new system soon, but it's not going to make a huge impact on game performance.

Perhaps you should grab the card while you still can but plan on upgrading to SB as soon as possible.

 

[inzone]

I know it would be more expesive but you would get a better perfomance with the motherboard ,cpu upgrade. However the MB you chose does not have two full x16 slots the second slot shares bandwith and will only operate at x4 or x1 which if you ever plan to sli it will severly resrict the second card.
MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$169.99 and it has a $20 rebate and free shipping.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130574

GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $159.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128498

MSI Z68A-GD55 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS $159.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130606

Here are some to consider that don't have the same shared bandwith as your choice and the x8 is almost as good as x16 the difference is not noticeable. If your budget does not allow it then you could go with the second 460 the only thing that could be a problem for you is the cpu.
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9505 Yorkfield 2.83GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80580Q9505. $239.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115060

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80569Q9550 $299.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041

I would try the cpu you have and the second 460 and if it dosen't give you enough of a performance upgrade then go with a quad core. I do think that you have a good MB and psu and they would handle another 460 no problem if your cpu does well then you will have a good upgrade with just another 460. I still think the best upgrade would be what I first said but if you are budget resricted then try the video card upgrade I think it would work .