Seeking Upgrade Advice

cjb4

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Sep 13, 2009
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I would appreciate advice on upgrading my 2 year old system. I use it for gaming and some video editing. It runs fine but hot and noisy, the CPU in the lower 50s and the GPU in the 80s.
My current rig:

ASUS P5Q-PRO (LGA 775)
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 2.83GHz
8.0GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 400MHz 5-5-5-18
ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 (ATI)
300GB WD VelociRaptor
1000GB SAMSUNG SAMSUNG HD103UJ ATA Device (IDE)
750 Watt PC Power and Cooling PSU
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit SP-1
COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000 Case

After doing some research and getting some advice I am think of replacing the MB, GPU, RAM and adding a SSD with the following:

ASUS P8Z68-V PRO LGA 1155
Intel Core i7-2600K
CORSAIR XMS3 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1333
GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi)
Patriot Wildfire 120 gb ssd

While I am upgrading I will probably replace the 3 case fans with PWM fans to reduce the noise and hopefully help with the tempurature.

I would appreciate any advice on the components, heat and noise reduction and replacing the i7 stock cooler. I am not a big overclocker but love to tinker.
Thanks in advance.
 

Abyssalx

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Feb 4, 2009
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Well the GTX560 is barely an upgrade - if at all to the 4870x2. 16gb of ram is honestly just unnecessary. 8gb of the Corsair XMS3 is only $59.99, so I'd say do that and save a bunch. Unfortunately, not enough to reach the GTX570, or the GTX460 2win(Which is much much better, priced at the 570's range. It's 2 GTX460's, in 1 card, and it's faster than a GTX580) If you could manage it, I think it's a steal. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130626
 

cjb4

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Sep 13, 2009
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Thanks abyssalx,
How about the 6950? Part of the reason I am replacing the current card is the noise and heat, I've heard that is less of an issue with the 560 or 6950. Not sure I need that much of a card with the GTX460 2win.
You are right about the memory I tend to carried away -- thinking more is better.
 

Abyssalx

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I know, it's also cool to say you have 16gb of ram. Haha. I completely forgot about the 69xx line from AMD. The 6950 is very similar to the GTX560, It's better in some games and worse in others. The noise and power consumption will be much lower also. But it'l cost you a good piece more. Unfortunately, there really isn't a happy medium between the 560 and 570's performance, it seems to be either $180, or $320. Wish the 6950 performed a bit better, cause it's got the perfect price
 

cadder

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Nov 17, 2008
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I think you could put a good cooler on your Q9550 and overclock it. You would gain maybe 35% more performance right there for not much money.

Replacing mobo, cpu and ram is pretty expensive, but it will more than double the speed of your machine.
 

cjb4

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Sep 13, 2009
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I haven't had much luck getting the temp down on this machine. I've tried 2 different coolers and the temp still stays in the low 50's at idle speeds. I guess I could try a water block next. Another reason I am considering upgrading is that 2 months ago I replaced my x201 laptop's HDD with a crucial SSD and the desktop now seems slow.