I have recently built a desktop over christmas and I just wanted to know what else I could do to the system to get the most out of it, whether the addition is big or small doesn't matter. I'll list by build below:
M5A99X EVO Socket AM3+ 990X ATX AMD Motherboard
FX 4100 Black Edition 3.6GHz Quad-Core Socket AM3+ Boxed Processor
AMD Radeon HD 6870 1024MB GDDR5 PCIe 2.1 x16 Video Card
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7,200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
16GB RAM (Obviously mobo compatible)
Corsair Gaming Series 800 Watt High Performance ATX Power Supply
NZXT Lexa S (Case)
23.6" SyncMaster LCD Monitor
Razer Lychosis Mirror -- Keyboard
Razer Naga Molten -- Mouse
Sony - BRAVIA 1000W 5.1-Ch. DVD Home Theater System
If you ever felt like installing a new OS sometime in the near future, you could get an SSD. I don't know if it makes gaming any faster, but programs and apps would probably boot faster, making your system seem faster overall.
@striker410
Yeah, I was thinking about doing that and possibly getting a second of the same monitor. How hard is it to crossfire video cards? Also, what exactly is a Sandy Bridge based machine?
@ebalong
I've looked at these, they are fairly expensive if you want to get a large-sized one. I may get one in the future but not too soon. Thanks for the suggestion though.
Crossfire isn't difficult at all. Just put the second card in there and tick a box!
Sandy Bridge is the latest generation of processors by Intel. They are excellent gaming CPU's. However, I'd keep the FX-4100 for a while. Later on you should definitely change sides to Intel.
Get a sound card that encodes in-game surround sound for the optical input on the Sony. Right now you're getting God knows what through there when you game, but it ain't what the programmers wrote---probably some kind of simulated 5.1 or even plain stereo. The card would need to have Dolby Digital Live (DDL) or DTS Connect. PCI or PCIe doesn't matter. It's a crying shame to not game in full surround when you're already hooked up to a home theater speaker system.
Don't get Creative; I could go into it, but don't get me started. They are overpriced and bloated, to say no more.
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