With which component switch would i see the biggest increase?

[jnutt011]

My current build:
CPU: AMD Athlon II x4 635
RAM: Patriot sector 5 8GB ddr3 (2x4) 1333mhz
Video Card: GTX 460 768 MB GDDR5
HDD: 2 seagate 7200 RPM mechanical drives


I Want to upgrade my motherboard+processor, and video card, but I don't have the cash to do both at the present time. I would like to switch to an I series MOBO with atleast an I5 sandy bridge and AMD 68/6900 series video card. All i would like to know is which I should upgrade first.

 

[phunky_21]

You should probably go for a graphics card now because MOBO and processor need to be updated at the same time. Your amd CPU would not work in your new motherboard and your new CPU would not work in your current motherboard.

 

[jnutt011]

You should probably go for a graphics card now because MOBO and processor need to be updated at the same time. Your amd CPU would not work in your new motherboard and your new CPU would not work in your current motherboard.

I understand that i would have to buy both at once as when i was a lowly amateur i made that mistake. You would suggest the video card then? that was what i was leaning towards.

 

[phunky_21]

Well depends on how much you are spending. Also what motherboard are you using now? Newer graphics cards are generally PCI express 2.0 or 3.0. It's possible if you have an old motherboard you won't get the full benefits out of the graphics card anyway.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

an athlon II X4 will have a PCIe 2.0 port, he can buy anything and the Athlon II will handle it. even though the AMD HD 7xxx and the NVidia GTX 6xx chips are PCIe 3.0, they'll step down to 2.0 and don't saturate that bandwidth, so no problems there. to have a significant step up from a GTX 460 768MB model, I'd say go for a HD 7850 ($240 or so), or wait a month and see if there is a 660 ti coming out in that price range

 

[jnutt011]

Well depends on how much you are spending. Also what motherboard are you using now? Newer graphics cards are generally PCI express 2.0 or 3.0. It's possible if you have an old motherboard you won't get the full benefits out of the graphics card anyway.

My motherboard has a single 2.0 slot as thats what my video card in there is now. I plan on purchasing in about a week after my next paycheck. I work part time (college student) moving furniture so it's very on again off again depending on business. I'll have about 500$ after next paycheck to spend as needed.

 

[jnutt011]

an athlon II X4 will have a PCIe 2.0 port, he can buy anything and the Athlon II will handle it. even though the AMD HD 7xxx and the NVidia GTX 6xx chips are PCIe 3.0, they'll step down to 2.0 and don't saturate that bandwidth, so no problems there. to have a significant step up from a GTX 460 768MB model, I'd say go for a HD 7850 ($240 or so), or wait a month and see if there is a 660 ti coming out in that price range

Would you recommend something along these lines?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150609

Edit: I would like amd because i have the capacity to utilize eyefinity and would like to.

Edit 2: On second thought it can be either as my college apartment wont have room in one space to have 3 monitors.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150608