Would love your advice on RAM upgrade and small OC =] Cheers

[seanwatson]

Hi everyone, first off I'd like to thank anyone who replies in advance, internet forums like this are a godsend

I need help on choosing some upgrades for my build. It's quite dated at this stage but I feel if I inject some new RAM, a SSD and a bit of over-clocking, things will spice back up! (hopefully!)

Here are my current system specs:

**
ASUSTeK Computer INC. P7P55D LE (LGA1156)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
Intel Core i7-860 2.80GHz
8.00 GB OCZ Dual-Channel DDR3 1333MHz (7-7-7-20)
RAM = OCZ3P1333LV2G x2 & OCZ3G1333LV2G x2
1024MB GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Gigabyte)
466GB Maxtor STM3500418AS ATA Device (SATA)
466GB Western Digital WDC WD5000AAKS-00V1A0 ATA Device (SATA)
Sound Card and Network Card
600W PSU
**

Ideally what I would like to do is get my CPU to 3.6GHz - Replacing my stock cooler with a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo Processor Cooler (RR-212E-16PK-R1)

Here's my options for new RAM:

KINGSTON HYPERX BEAST - 2 X 8 GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 1.5v CL9 (KHX16C9T3K2/16X) @ €95.00
KINGSTON HYPERX BEAST - 4 X 4 GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 1.5v CL9 (KHX16C9T3K4/16X) @ €70.00
CORSAIR DOMINATOR PLATINUM - 2 X 8 GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 1.5v CL9 (CMD16GX3M2A1600C9) @ €130.00
CORSAIR VENGEANCE PERFORMANCE - 4 X 4 GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 1.5v CL9 (CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9) @ €90.00

Which one should I go for, do you think? Is 2x8 / 4x4 better? When I first built my machine, it seemed that low voltage 1333mhz ram was the only option for my rig, now after doing a bit of research if you are overclocking you can get 1600mhz?

I've chosen this SSD - Samsung 840 Series 2.5" 250GB SSD + Mounting Kit - MZ-7TD250KW - Do you think that's a good call?

Any advice would be really appreciated, also advice on overclocking?

Thanks again.
Seán, Dublin, Ireland

 

[kiezz]

the ram will be your worst bang for buck performance increase nothing wrong with the ram you have and you seem to have allocated a fair budget to it,
what are you doing when you feel your pc is letting you down performance wise? the ssd is good and in general you will feel like you have alot faster system with boot times and load times and that

 

[kiezz]

if you have never overclocked before do your research beforehand really read a few guides like this one http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/263043-11-1156-core-core-overclocking-guide and try google some other ones, just take it slowly starting off keeping the figures conservative and testing for stability and not overheating, when you get started and any specific questions come up about overclocking then start a new thread asking back here

 

[seanwatson]

The latest games don't run very well and I want to be able to play on max settings.

I'm going to do more research and learn more about overclocking before rushing to a decision or wasting money on the wrong ram, like you said.

Thanks for your advice!

 

[kiezz]

new ram definitely won't help your gaming experience, it depends on what youmean by not very well, ill take it you mean fps and then I wonder what you considor poor fps? your system would benifit from overclocking but its still very capable and should be able to play games at 1920x1080 with relatively high settings but maybe not as straight forward as just putting everything max you'll have to find the sweet spot of highest settings at most acceptable fps