Need help choosing upgrades

[Foxhound92]

Hi Everyone,

I made a thread about a month ago on what i should do with my comp to upgrade it and got some good answers, but now that i actually have some money to spend I've run into some more issues on what to choose. Currently my comp is:

Core 2 Duo E6850 @ 3.7ghz oc
Corsair 6 heat pipe CPU cooler
Gigabyte P47 northbridge mobo
4gb (4x 1gb sticks) G.SKILL DRR3 1333 9-9-9-24
MSI Twin Frozr GTX 260 core 216
Corsair 650w Gaming Series
500gb SATA HDD
Ancient Raidmax Scorpio case
Win 7 Home Premium 64 bit

I've decided against buying a core 2 quad like a Q9550, with everyone trying to get 200+ dollars for them, when even a i3 beats them in most areas, and matches it in the gaming area for half the price. I also don't like the idea of dumping money into a dead socket anyway:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/50?vs=289

If i reuse my RAM, case, HDD and cpu cooler, i would have enough money for two options:
Core i3 2100 & MSi Twin Frozr GTX 560ti
or
Core i5 2500k & My current GFX card (GTX 260)

If i went the i5 way, i don't know how long it would take me to pony up enough cash for a new GFX card, if i go with the i3, i may have enough money left over to at least upgrade my RAM also. I use my comp for gaming and i would like to play the newer titles (BF3, Skyrim, DOTA 2 etc) on higher settings but not exactly maxed, so long as i get consistent frames. I'm leaning more towards the i3 build right now, but i would like some advice on whats the better choice, or if i should do something else entirely.

 

[pacioli]

I have three of those parts at home. the i5 2500K the GTX 260 and the GTX 560 Ti.
The 2500K and the 560 Ti are paired up ATM and they are... Well they rock I am totally satisfied with them frankly.
I started out with the 2500K and the GTX 260 paired up and they were great together... but the 560 Ti made an awesome combo.

But think about this... a pair of SLIed GTX 260 is faster than a GTX 580! too bad it would only support DX9 and not DX10/11. An extra GTX 260 goes for about $50 on eBay.

Right now the GTX 260 is in wifey's PC but for $50 I've been thinking about seeing what a pair can do in my PC... It would suck power like a beast and fry eggs in the exhaust stream... but $50 for GTX 580 performance!

I'm guessing the i3 2100 would work great with the 560 Ti, but then you'd be stuck with it...

 

[Rothaga]

If you go with an i3, you'll need to buy a new Mobo with a new socket, then you need new RAM to match your Mobo's RAM, then the new processor.

Unless I'm missing something?

 

[Foxhound92]

The board i would buy would be SLI compatible, but my case is ancient (manufactured in 2003), i could fit 2x 8800GT's in there years ago before that build all but exploded and the fit was way pretty tight then, i doubt 2x GTX 260's would fit... but it would overheat in a heartbeat in my current case anyhow. Im guessing the performance i would get over a 560ti with SLI GTX 260's would be minimal compared to the heat and power usage (one of these things draws like 200w+ at full tilt).

If you go with an i3, you'll need to buy a new Mobo with a new socket, then you need new RAM to match your Mobo's RAM, then the new processor.

Unless I'm missing something?

I would have to get a new mobo for either the i3 or the i5, as far as my ram goes its DDR3, which is the standard for now so im set when it comes to that.