Looking to upgrade my main pc, thinking either SSD + monitor or a new graphics card

Currently got:
Q9300
8gb DDR2 (4x2gb crucial ballistix pc6400)
Asus P45 deluxe
1 500gb Samsung spinpoint (old and thinking to replace)
1 1tb Samsung spinpoint (oldish and thinking to replace)
1 2tb Samsung Spinpoint
ATI 4870
1 24" Hyundai Monitor (1920x1200)
1 22" Asus monitor (1920x1080)
Seasonic 600W PSU

Unfortunately the monitor I really want is a fair bit out of budget (either the asus PA246Q IPS or the Dell U2410) so was thinking of leaving it for a while and getting a graphics card or an SSD and putting the rest towards a later upgrade

Not sure which graphics card though, something under £200 I think but have no idea what is decent at the minute, same with SSDs as I don't know what to look for aside from the speed rating, not even sure if I should look at a SATA3 drive or not, as I think I'll be upgrading to a new i5 system later down the line

So.... SSD (and possibly a new monitor) or GPU?

Personally I'd say the jump in GPU performance for £200 wouldn't be enough to tempt me to spend my cash.
An SSD for my OS on the other hand........ Tasty!
You might as well get SATA3 if you're planning on building a new system in the future.

The SSD is going to make the biggest difference to everyday usage.

What are your main complaints with the current system? What's the heaviest job you use it for?

Mainly its for writing software and playing games, hence the dilemma

main complaint is the boot time to being usable, let alone into windows

Small SSD for OS drive and a GTX 560, or 560ti depending on budget?

What kind of size drive should I look at, 60gb, 100gb, 120gb?

hmm the 560ti will mean I'll need a new case too, running out of space and pretty limited in terms of options with no cable routing

Might have to repurpose my Fractal R3 from my HTPC....

If you can get away with a 60GB, all well and good, you can still run a few games from your drive C: and get the benefit of fast level loading; although a 120 or bigger is more practical IMO. The R3 will make a great home for a 560ti.

It all depends on your budget really.

Budget isn't much of an issue to be honest, it's more about the value for money

Well, many will argue that value for money goes right out the window, when it comes to SSDs; they're just too expensive for the storage space on offer. However, I got mine almost two years ago and I still say it's the best upgrade I've ever bought.

The 560 makes a much better case, when it comes to value. They offer great performance straight out of the box, and are very, very overclockable (if that's your thing). On the other hand, I've never driven two monitors with an nVidia card - the last time I did that was with my old 4870, and it performed very well. I just don't have the space for two screens anymore.

I drive 2 at the minute, possibly even 3 at some point when I end up matching my monitors to either 1920x1080 or 1920x1200, I know ATI do a decent job of it

Maybe someone else can speak intelligently on nVidia triple screen performance - my 295 can drive two screens, but I was under the impression that three screen surround needed SLI.

Whereas a 6950, probably the nearest AMD equivalent to the 560, supports three screen "EyeFinity". Maybe that is the better option.