The Biggest Upgrade Possible

[macewrox]

Heya folks!

So here are the specs for my machine-

Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition 3.3Ghz CPU:: CLICK
PSU: Apevia Warlock 1100W Black Alum. PSU w/ Multi-LED:: CLICK
Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 580 1536MB GDDR5 Superclocked:: CLICK
Sound Card: Creative Labs SB X-FI Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCIe:: CLICK
HDD: Seagate 2TB LP Serial ATA HD 5900/32MB/SATA-3G (I have two that are not raided):: CLICK
RAM: Corsair Dominator GT 8GB PC15000 DDR3 1866MHz:: CLICK
Mobo: Gigabyte 890FXA-UD5 AMD 890FX Socket AM3:: CLICK

Now what I'm trying to do is figure out what to replace to get the biggest improvement to my machine.

I was thinking about getting another two or three HDD's and stripe RAID them for speed.

I was also thinking about getting a SSD to put my OS and a few games on and then keep the rest of my junk on the HDD's.

Any suggestions?

 

[striker410]

Well, the first issue is you went AMD Phenom X6 when going Sandy Bridge 2500k would have given you much more performance.

But asides from that, I agree an SSD would be a good choice. The HDD's you have right now are pretty slow.

OCZ just came out with their Agility 3 line, and they are probably the best buy when it comes to ~$125-200 SSD's.

 

[macewrox]

I didn't know practically anything when building this, so I totally agree with you. I should have went for the 2500k.

BUT, since I'm stuck with AMD, I'll have to suffer with my CPU until they come out with some new high performance chips (Or get enough money to swap Mobos)

The only issue I have with OCZ is that I've heard installing OS's on their products is hardcore. Like - you have be prepared for three hours of work.

 

[Emerald]

how much HDD space is used on your current drives?

 

[striker410]

I've never heard of that.
I see no reason it should take longer than any other SSD. Could you link me to a thread? I have no doubt it's an issue, I've just never heard of that before.

But the real reason to get the Agility 3's is speed. They have something like 525MB/s read and 475MB/s write (don't quote me on that lol) For $135 for a 60GB ssd, that's an incredible deal.

 

[macewrox]

I use one full drive, on my way to filling up the second. Why do you ask?

And it's more reviews on NewEgg and Tigerdirect. They're miffing me about the OCZ ease of installation.

I'll look around for the Agility 3. Thanks for the tip :]

 

[Emerald]

Just wondering if you be able to clone the drive.

With that much data you will have to reinstall Windows.

 

[macewrox]

So would a SSD be my biggest upgrade? (Besides processor)

God I'm hoping AMD's new line of processor's can compete with Intel.

 

[striker410]

I would say SSD is the best upgrade.

 

[geofelt]

What is your problem with your current system?

What is your budget?

A SSD is one of the better performance enhancers .

A second monitor is one of the most useful upgrades.

My guess is that AMD bulldozer will be like the current X6; good for the price, and good for multitasking, but not so hot for gaming.

 

[macewrox]

Long load times is a problem.

And FPS in some games are a problem.

FPS I'm -sure- has to do with my CPU, because the 580 is a freaking boss.

Budget? Eh, no more than like 200-250$

What is your problem with your current system?

What is your budget?

A SSD is one of the better performance enhancers .

A second monitor is one of the most useful upgrades.

My guess is that AMD bulldozer will be like the current X6; good for the price, and good for multitasking, but not so hot for gaming.

 

[geofelt]

A SSD will address your load problems for the games you install on it.

Your 1100T is worth $140-160 on e-bay. Not much for the motherboard.

A 2500K is $225, and a P67 motherboard is $150. You could reuse the ram I think, if undervolted to <1.65v.

You could switch if you really think clock speed is the issue.

 

[striker410]

If the clock speed is the issue, then overclocking might be the best alternative.

He bought into AMD right now, no sense switching until at least the next gen.

 

[macewrox]

So I just bought a 120GB Agility 3 SSD. Should arrive on Tuesday. I'll install it and let you guys know the improvement.

I don't plan on switching out of AMD until my next rig, I figure it's probably easiest to hope that AMD has a bad ass processor under it's sleeve so I can save some cash by keeping my mobo.

 

[striker410]

Alright! Be sure to tell us how it goes

 

[macewrox]

My SSD is arriving today, but I was wondering - you said that overclocking can help? I'm not very comfortable with overclocking because I don't want to break anything... but where should I start? There's an option on my mobo bios that says "Auto-Overclock", I checked that for two start-ups and the only difference I noticed is upon the initial loading of all my programs and the desktop, everything would jump a bit more than normal. I turned it off to be safe, because it didn't seem right.

 

[striker410]

Yeah, I was just saying if your CPU was limiting you (which it's not) that you always had the option of OCing it. Don't worry about it right now.

 

[macewrox]

So I installed my SSD, and wow. It's pretty damn fast. Boot times have gone from about 30-40 seconds to like 10.

Still working on drivers and games, but everything seems to be operating smoothly. Thanks again folks! I'll be back in a couple months ;P

 

[macewrox]

Best answer selected by macewrox.