Maximize My Performance

[Doctor RayRay]

Hi, I just bought myself a rig for gaming. I wanted to see how I could maximize my performance. So, first question, should I upgrade to Windows 8? Will it help my performance? Next should I over clock anything, especially my processor. I have an Alienware Aurora chassis with liquid cooling so if I should over clock anything the heat shouldn't build up.
Here's my specs
OPERATING SYSTEM:
Windows 2.6.1.7601 (Service Pack 1) Windows 7 64-bit
CPU TYPE:
Intel® Core™ i7-4820K CPU @ 3.70GHz
CPU SPEED:
3.75 GHz
SYSTEM MEMORY:
17.09 GB
VIDEO CARD MODEL: (I have two of these in it)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 Ti OEM
VIDEO CARD MEMORY:
4.21 GB
VIDEO CARD DRIVER:
nvd3dum.dll
DESKTOP RESOLUTION:
1920x1080
HARD DISK SIZE:
5.99 TB
HARD DISK FREE SPACE:
5.74 TB (96%)

Just an additional detail I ran Diablo 3 to see how it runs and it was getting 140 FPS in town, at max settings with V sync off.

 

[lmaonade200]

Those Alienware Auroras are something else, it's a fairly amazing machine.

And yes you should probably the processor a nice overclock, do you know how to do it?
Stick with windows 7, it's much more user-friendly.
You can try to give your Video cards an overclock too using software like MSI afterburner, but with 2 in the case it can get a bit hot so exercise caution.
Another thing is to update your drivers to the latest release 331.82, they give a really good boost in performance compared to older system drivers (which your computer might have since it's a pre-built). Another added bonus is that the more recent the driver, the more stability you're going to get with a dual GPU SLI set up (with the exception of beta drivers, they sometimes have stability issues, being beta and all)

Other than that it's just fine-tuning your PC, use programs like CPU-Z and GPU-Z to monitor temps, clocks, etc while you're gaming and such, and you can put your rig to the test with Unigine Heaven, or for a bit of fun, Final Fantasy 14 ARR's own benchmark.

 

[Doctor RayRay]

Those Alienware Auroras are something else, it's a fairly amazing machine.

And yes you should probably the processor a nice overclock, do you know how to do it?
Stick with windows 7, it's much more user-friendly.
You can try to give your Video cards an overclock too using software like MSI afterburner, but with 2 in the case it can get a bit hot so exercise caution.
Another thing is to update your drivers to the latest release 331.82, they give a really good boost in performance compared to older system drivers (which your computer might have since it's a pre-built). Another added bonus is that the more recent the driver, the more stability you're going to get with a dual GPU SLI set up (with the exception of beta drivers, they sometimes have stability issues, being beta and all)

Other than that it's just fine-tuning your PC, use programs like CPU-Z and GPU-Z to monitor temps, clocks, etc while you're gaming and such, and you can put your rig to the test with Unigine Heaven, or for a bit of fun, Final Fantasy 14 ARR's own benchmark.

Thanks for some of the insight. I guess I'm just going to avoid over clocking the GPUs. I don't really know how to over clock my processors but I have been wanting to learn, so I guess now would be a good time. Any advice on how I should over clock it?

 

[lmaonade200]

you can use a program (which is often not recommended lol)
another thing you can do is go into the BIOS and upping the vcore and multipliers step by step until you reach a wall or are satisfied. I'm not exactly sure where to find it in the Alienware BIOS since my own doesn't have an unlocked processor. Someone else should be able to help with that.

Other than that the only advice I can give you is to turn off turbo boost, turbo step, etc, and all automatic features like automatic voltage settings, set them manually instead.
And after every step (or more if you want to get it over with quickly) you should run tests and benchmarks on your computer for stability.

 

[Doctor RayRay]

Thank you, I'm going to try those things. I appreciate it a lot! It was nice finding another Alienware user, you're so right when you say it's amazing. I love the user friendliness when opening it up and changing out parts.

 

[lmaonade200]

Thank you, I'm going to try those things. I appreciate it a lot! It was nice finding another Alienware user, you're so right when you say it's amazing. I love the user friendliness when opening it up and changing out parts.

no problem! And good luck with overclocking, be sure to do some research on it first, I left out a lot because even though it's somewhat simple once you get into, it's hard to explain it to another person.

Alienware makes good computers with solid quality, my only problem was the price, but I got a nice discount on mine so I was completely happy to buy one. And mine's one of the mini slim models so no changing parts for me