Is it worth it to upgrade just my GC?

[bporter]

I have a system that was decent when I built it, but is over 3 years old at this point

I have:
Intel 3.0 GHz Core 2 Duo
Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 MB
8 GB DDR2
PC Power and Cooling 750W PS
Radeon HD 4850
1920 x 1200 display

I am playing Skyrim and it would be nice to have it looking really good, I was wondering if upgrading to a new(er) graphics card, like the Radeon 6790 or 6850 would be worth it, or if I really wouldn't see any gains without upgrading MB, CPU, and RAM as well.

Anyone have any thoughts on whether an upgrade would help me out/be worth it?

Thanks in advance

 

[xdmds]

I have a system that was decent when I built it, but is over 3 years old at this point

I have:
Intel 3.0 GHz Core 2 Duo
Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 MB
8 GB DDR2
PC Power and Cooling 750W PS
Radeon HD 4850
1920 x 1200 display

I am playing Skyrim and it would be nice to have it looking really good, I was wondering if upgrading to a new(er) graphics card, like the Radeon 6790 or 6850 would be worth it, or if I really wouldn't see any gains without upgrading MB, CPU, and RAM as well.

Anyone have any thoughts on whether an upgrade would help me out/be worth it?

Thanks in advance

First, Skyrim is a CPU heavy game so a GPU any higher than 560ti/6950 wouldn't really have any increase in performance(http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/skyrim-performance-benchmark,3074.html). With that said, you probably aren't looking into GPU's of that range, but the 6850 is comparable to a 5830. This probably wouldn't be the best investment for skyrim since the card isn't that much of an upgrade, and CPU is more important for this game.

If you're looking for an upgrade, it looks like it's time for a new build, since you're system is pretty much maxed out (any upgrades wouldn't really be worth it money-wise).

If you really want a GPU upgrade without upgrading anything else, a 6850 would give you a very small performance upgrade, but it would be minimal especially for a CPU intensive game like skyrim.

EDIT:

by any upgrades wouldn't be worth it I was referring to any possible upgrades for your motherboard/chipset.