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Everything running fine but the upgrade itch getting stronger ;)

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Hey guys,

Just a few questions. With my current setup everything is quite sweet. No problems, the *very* occasional Overclock fail and CTD or freeze but other than that I am very happy with my setup.

Now, the thing is I'm starting to wonder if there's anything I can do that is reasonably cost effective to make my rig boot up and perform faster than it already is. With the SSDs boot times are much better (not lightning fast by any standards but much better none the less), the my CPU seems to be doing everything it was made to do and more with the OC and my 2 GTX560's are running BF3 all on high with AA turned OFF.

I've got around 200 bucks to blow and I'm wondering if better RAM or a better CPU is what's next. My specs are below, if anyone can help that would be awesome

Thanks

Pablo




i7 930 2.8 stock @ 3.99
Asus P6T
Corsair H70 CPU Watercooler
6 x 2Gb Kingston Value RAM triple channel
ASUS ENGTX560 TI DCII/2DI/1GD5 SLI
2 OCZ Agility 2 64GB SSD in RAID 0
LG Blu Ray Burner
HP 2509 LCD 25"
Coler Master HAF 922
Onboard sound 7.1 Realtek Hi Def Audio
Cooler Master Silent Power 1000W
Win 7 x64
Homebuilt system Authority

I really don't think you need to upgrade to be honest. I would spend the cash on nice peripherals instead. Maybe get a nice 5.1 speaker setup or a nice headset or something.

EDIT: I would leave it until Ivy bridge then upgrade the CPU/Motherboard/RAM because it's 4-5 months away but it will then have full PCI-e 3.0 support.

You could get better RAM, I suppose. You didn't list clockspeed. If you run 12 Gbs, you could even RAM-disk some programs, which will let them start practically instantly. I don't know the specifics but there are some pretty basic tutorials and as far as I've seen it's not that difficult. Other than that, your rig really flies... Nothing seems out of place.
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Homebuilt system Master

When you get the itch... scratch it.

I see no value in changing the cpu or ram. A least wait for ivy bridge.

I have two suggestions:

1) Get a second monitor. Identical to the first if you can. It is one of the most useful additions you can make.
I game on one and keep e-mail or performance monitors open on the other.
Web surfing lets me see several pages at once.

2) Look into a mechanical keyboard.

Well, after I finished my core build, I got these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
(my keyboard choices were limited since I needed a special international layout)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

That and a Vertex 3, but you already have a pair of SSDs. I would recommend any of the above, specially the sound card, huge improvement over the onboard realtek audio.

geofelt said:
When you get the itch... scratch it.

I see no value in changing the cpu or ram. A least wait for ivy bridge.

I have two suggestions:

1) Get a second monitor. Identical to the first if you can. It is one of the most useful additions you can make.
I game on one and keep e-mail or performance monitors open on the other.
Web surfing lets me see several pages at once.

2) Look into a mechanical keyboard.


Hey guys,

Well before I got to these posts I bought 24 gigs or RAM ( http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682... ) and will sell my KVR 12 gigs at a later time. It's better RAM and I'll have more so hopefully that will make a small difference but a difference none the less.

I like the second monitor idea but I don;t like the power and resources it will draw from the 560s just to see my desktop on the second monitor. It's a good idea but not if you're playing Battlefield 3

A mechanical keyboard? You lost me there.

As far as Ivy Bridge goes that will involve an entirely new build and at this stage in the game I'll hold off and wait till this rig just can;t handle the new games anymore and I'm hoping that won't be for another 2 years. We'll see I guess.

Thanks for the suggestions. Always great advice here ;) 

Best solution

Homebuilt system Master

pabloottawa said:
Hey guys,

Well before I got to these posts I bought 24 gigs or RAM ( http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682... ) and will sell my KVR 12 gigs at a later time. It's better RAM and I'll have more so hopefully that will make a small difference but a difference none the less.

I like the second monitor idea but I don;t like the power and resources it will draw from the 560s just to see my desktop on the second monitor. It's a good idea but not if you're playing Battlefield 3

A mechanical keyboard? You lost me there.

As far as Ivy Bridge goes that will involve an entirely new build and at this stage in the game I'll hold off and wait till this rig just can;t handle the new games anymore and I'm hoping that won't be for another 2 years. We'll see I guess.

Thanks for the suggestions. Always great advice here ;) 


For what it is worth, I have two 2560 x 1600 monitors.
I game on one, using a GTX580 and I can't detect a difference.
At one time, I used a cheap second graphics card for the second monitor, feeling that it would free up resources. If it did, I could not tell the difference. If you did see a difference, I suppose a $30 card could be used to attach the secondary monitor.

Read some about mechanical keyboards here:
http://www.overclock.net/keyboards/491752-mechanical-ke...
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