PC build question

So all you savvy tech guys, maybe you could give me some advice about the best area for me to concentrate for an upgrade seeing as i probably won't be able to afford a total system upgrade. Current specs are as follows

Windows 7 64bit
E5200 @ 2.5 CPU
4GB DDR2
ATI HD4850 512MB
24" LCD 1920x1200 native

Question is would I be better off with

a) an i7-930 upgrade kit, with the Motherboard and 4gig of DDR3 and CPU and keep HD4850 512

b) going to an E8500 CPU and a HD5850 1GB vid card

option a - Upgrade kit is about $800
option b - Upgrade kit is about $600

Prices are in Australian dollars so don't have a heart attack :)

I'd go for option 1 and tough out your video card until you can afford a new one. That dual core processor and older chipset architecture would stifle a new video card too severely.

Yeah, get #1, cause you gotta have the support for a new GPU first, then get a good GPU when ya can afford a powerful one. I don't know ATI that well, but I think you run XIV well enough for now.

Thanks for the suggestions. I decided to go with a Phenom II X6 1050T cpu and AM3 m/board. Also a 1TB hard drive and 4GB of DDR 3. Later on I will need to upgrade to a larger case to fit the HD5850 or whichever card I go with both for space and cooling requirements.

All up including shipping and packaging $556 AUD and should give me a nice boost :).

Very nice.

November is the expected month for release of the AMD (yes. they're ditching the ATI branding) 6xxx series.

Expect to be finding discounted 5800 series cards all the way into the new year. (possibly even the 400 nVidia series).

Interesting...didn't know about them dropping the ATI brand. Should be a good move for them.

I just find it hilarious now that the AMD logo is going to be present on Intel chipset packaging.