GTX 470 & Liquidcooling or Core i-7/mobo/ram??

[broncos78254]

I am looking to buy either another GTX 470 (already have one) and liquid cooling or a new mobo, cpu and ram. I primarily use the computer for games (especially Age of Conan) and some photoshop. I'm just not sure what would give me the best bang for the buck. I have about $600 to play with. Should I go with the second graphics card and liquid cooling (for overcloking, of course) or go with a whole new mobo/cpu/ram setup?

My current computer is:
Core 2 Quad Q6600
6 gigs of DDR2 GSkill ram
MSI 7380 mobo (2 PCI-e @ x16)
GTX 470
Silverstone 850W power supply
Windows 7 64 bit

Looking at getting either: GTX 470 (to run in SLI) and All componets to set up a liquid cooling system (Most are swiftec parts)

or

Looking at getting: AsRock X58 Extreme
Core i7 920
4 gigs OCZ DDR 3 ram

 

[Phazedx]

that mobo (AsRock X58 Extreme ) doesn't support the i7

 

[Somebody_007]

I'd upgrade the cpu to a q9400-q9550 if it's to weak. And replace it all with 1155 and dd3 when it comes out.

Personally I'd stick with what you have swap out the CPU and upgrade on the peripherals. If you find your PC is to weak I'd add another 470 but liquid cooling is a waste really. If you're buying a 3-4k rig sure but here at this price point I'd leave it.

 

[broncos78254]

The AsRock X58 Extreme does indeed support Core i7 heres a link: http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=X58%20EXTREME

From some of the reviews I've read, they have overclocked the core i7 to just over 4 gigs using that same Asrock motherboard. Why is liquid cooling a waste on such a system?How does a rig costing 3-4k justify liquid cooling over one that doesn't cost as much? Just wondering? Still unsure what to do.
I wonder what would yield better results for gaming (more fps)? The gaphics card and cooling or upgrade to better mobo/cpu/ram?

 

[Somebody_007]

for more fps the best thing to do would be get another 470 and q9400 or better.

Water cooling is kind of a waste here because it's expensive. Around 300-400 for all the parts exept waterblocks and around 100 for each waterblock. If you would want to watercool your 470s and cpu you're looking at 600-700 just for cooling. And this cooling will yield little benefit maybe 10-20percent more performance which could also be achieved with good air coolers.

but if you have a very expensive rig with the ever so overclockable 5970s and even better 930-980 it's a good investement as you can get more than 30% overclocks safely.

 

[Mr Pizza]

Do not get an ASrock, its a horrible brand. Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, EVGA. Thats it.

 

[sp12]

Eh, the build quality is comparable, it's just they have a 1 year warranty. They try to use the same components that ASUS does (they are, after all, a spinoff).

 

[Somebody_007]

asrock makes decent products. IMO just asus to the extreme. Asus spends to much time on features. Asrock even more. IMO gigabyte has the right moto. We make performance screw all the other stuff.