Maximizing performance

[Alterious]

Hello Forum, I just wanna say I understand a lot of computer building diagnosis is like car maintenance, you need to take it to a mechanic to understand the problem. I have recently finished building a PC and I don't think it is performing as it should. Now I have no desire to over clock because I know little about it and I don't want to ruin parts in the process. I've built this machine in the interest of gaming when I am not in class. So my parts are as follows: Intel i7 960 processor, MSI x58m motherboard, 2 EVGA GTS 450 SLI linked graphics cards, 24 gigs (6 sticks of 4 gig) triple channel Kingston DDR3 ram, Corsair GS800 PSU 800w with more than enough amps on the rails, and finally a CM Storm Enforcer Case. Now I have a 200mm Fan on top and front and one 120mm fan in the back. My CPU is using the stock cooling system with stock paste. I am running Windows 7 64 bit Professional.

I have run memtest86 and my RAM checks out fine. I feel my pc is not running to its full potential and am asking for some insight from people that may know. Gonna try and leave the PC off for as long as possible until I have determined what can be done to help maximize it's performance before damaging parts. Any help would be super, thank you for your time.

 

[PoplicoMan]

I get the feeling something is bottlenecking your Comp
Let me ask you a question is this feeling slow moment come when gaming or doing day to day things.

If it's day to day things I'm pretty are your HDD is slowing the loading times of all your applications and boot times.
Another possibility is that your hardware isn't in the most ideal place
For example you put a SSD into a sata II port. It wont function as fast as it can

 

[PoplicoMan]

Sorry about my grammar
I was rushing

 

[holdingholder]

Well I would say that those 2 450's don't really do the rest of your system justice, you would be better off with one gts 460 or even better 2 in sli.

 

[Alterious]

I have a 2 TB SATA hard drive non ssd, I haven't tried games yet maybe I just have my standards set higher than they should be. I bought the graphics cards on sale and the PC has been built in the last 4 days so I haven't been able to test it much. I don't really know much about RAM timings or how to adjust them. I really do not want to mess with the BIOS too much because I do not want to cause an unrepairable problem before I start classes this fall.

 

[larkspur]

I feel my pc is not running to its full potential and am asking for some insight from people that may know.

Run a benchmark like 3dMark11 (the free basic version) at: http://www.3dmark.com/

Or try the "Windows Experience Index" (within Win 7)

Post your results.

Is SLI turned on in the driver menu?

 

[karma831]

Maybe an HD bottleneck? Most 2TB are slower 5400RPM drives.

 

[Alterious]

The Windows Experience Index marks everything except my hard drive very highly so I believe that may be the issue. My hard drive was kind of an impulse buy because it was on clearance at Microcenter. 5400 rpm 2 TB drive... I believe, as PoplicoMan and karma831 had mentioned that my hard drive is to blame. Looks like I'll be getting a new hard drive, thanks for all your help guys.

 

[Alterious]

Best answer selected by Alterious.