Upgrading High End Pc

[mistercage]

When coming to build my gaming pc I consulted these forums and they helped a LOT, so now its come to upgrade time I figured I would ask again.

Im currently running a reasonably high end gaming pc and decided recently that I wanted to upgrade my existing rig.

Not build a new one

My current specifications are:
Motherboard - Asrock z77 Extreme4
Processor - Intel i5 3570k (3.40 ghz not currently overclocked at all)
GPU - GTX 670 OC Edition
HDD - WD 1TB 3.5" SATA-III Caviar Green
Case - Corsair 400r
RAM - Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3
Drive - LiteOn Bluray

My heatsink is the Akasa Venom Vodoo, I also have 2 front mounted Akasa AK-174BK-S and the standard rear mounted 120mm Corsair fan that came with the case.


Any suggestions on upgrades? I'm very interested in maximising cooling.

Thanks!

 

[computernewb]

1 thing i would add is a SSD for windows and games. other than that, looks like a good rig

 

[mistercage]

1 thing i would add is a SSD for windows and games. other than that, looks like a good rig

First of all thanks! It does me well, gpu does get a little hot at times though. Any suggestions on SSDs? Brand etc?

 

[hiporc]

get a ssd, Samsung 840. reliable and top of the crop right now. If you have even more money, maybe a 840 pro. The ssd is always the biggest noticeable upgrade in a pc. upgrading your video card is not worth it, a 680 has only a 5% increase in performance if it is the video card you want to upgrade, wait till next generation comes out. I highly recommend a ssd tho. Good luck, hope this helped.

 

[DarkSable]

get a ssd, Samsung 840. reliable and top of the crop right now. If you have even more money, maybe a 840 pro. The ssd is always the biggest noticeable upgrade in a pc. upgrading your video card is not worth it, a 680 has only a 5% increase in performance if it is the video card you want to upgrade, wait till next generation comes out. I highly recommend a ssd tho. Good luck, hope this helped.

Yet again you're wrong... though sound advice about the graphics card.

The Samsung 840 is made with different NAND - it's actually slower and way less reliable than a samsung 830.

OP, I'd go with (in this order): an 840 pro, Vector, 830, Vertex 4, Intel 520, Crucial M4.

That being said, there's really nothing else I'd upgrade - you've got the newest and best of everything. Why do you even WANT to upgrade, when you have performance that good?

 

[mistercage]

Yet again you're wrong... though sound advice about the graphics card.

The Samsung 840 is made with different NAND - it's actually slower and way less reliable than a samsung 830.

OP, I'd go with (in this order): an 840 pro, Vector, 830, Vertex 4, Intel 520, Crucial M4.

That being said, there's really nothing else I'd upgrade - you've got the newest and best of everything. Why do you even WANT to upgrade, when you have performance that good?

From what i've seen an SSD is defiantly something I need to get up and running within my rig, and thank you for the recommendation of various products to chose from!
Currently i'm having trouble with my card overheating and crashing. Which after like you say having the newest and best of everything is incredibly irritating. I may just have a faulty card. Was originally going to buy a 670 Windforce but impatience got the better of me and I settled for what I have.

The only other thing I really want to address is a possible conversion to water cooling? And either getting a GPU cooler or a card that will be able to keep cool.

Thanks for the feedback though! Greatly appreciated.

 

[A Bad Day]

What is your case fan configs? I've read about an complaint of a CF or SLI rig that keep overheating and crashing because the case only had a stock exhaust and intake fan.

 

[mistercage]

What is your case fan configs? I've read about an complaint of a CF or SLI rig that keep overheating and crashing because the case only had a stock exhaust and intake fan.

I also have 2 front mounted Akasa AK-174BK-S and the standard rear mounted 120mm Corsair fan that came with the case.

So the two Akasa pull air through from the front with the stock fan exhausting, then again I also have quite a good HSF combo because the Akasa Venom Vodoo is a BEAST


Any suggestions on more effective airflow etc?

 

[DarkSable]

From what i've seen an SSD is defiantly something I need to get up and running within my rig, and thank you for the recommendation of various products to chose from!
Currently i'm having trouble with my card overheating and crashing. Which after like you say having the newest and best of everything is incredibly irritating. I may just have a faulty card. Was originally going to buy a 670 Windforce but impatience got the better of me and I settled for what I have.

The only other thing I really want to address is a possible conversion to water cooling? And either getting a GPU cooler or a card that will be able to keep cool.

Thanks for the feedback though! Greatly appreciated.

Yep, you'll be amazed how much of a difference an SSD will make. Just pull out every hard drive and flash drive but the SSD (you can just unattach the hard drives), reinstall windows onto the SSD, and you'll be good to go.

As for the card overheating, that sounds to me like a bad card. Is it possible to RMA your video card?

Water cooling will be great (If you do real water cooling), and you can cool your GPU. It's really only helpful in multi-card setups where the GPUs are choked for air, though, because they mostly can't overclock to the point where they need water cooling.