Advice: Upgrading My Rig

[wrxdrunkie]

Hey guys,

My computer has really been aggravating me lately. Windows takes forever to boot up; it is generally getting pretty sluggish. I am probably going to reinstall Windows and figured I would upgrade some stuff while I am at it. I always find myself low on RAM and my current motherboard has a bad ram slot, so either way it looks like a new motherboard will be part of my upgrade.

My computer streams media to my Xbox; I record TV daily using my computer, and regularly use my Xbox as a media center extender.

I currently have:

- MSI x58m motherboard
- Core i7 920 CPU
- ATI 5850s in Crossfire
- 6GB (3x2GB) 1600MHz Patriot RAM
- Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB HDD
- Western Digital Green 2TB HDD
- Seasonic X Series 80+ 650W Power Supply
- Cooler Master Storm Scout Case


I was thinking of upgrading the RAM and getting a new motherboard to accommodate the extra RAM.

I am also hoping to possibly upgrade to a SSD.

I am looking for some advice on whether or not I should upgrade my cpu when I upgrade my motherboard, what RAM to get (and should I try to make use of my old ram), and what SSDs are recommended.

Any other recommendations are appreciated.

 

[Gnasher]

I would not upgrade the CPU and just how much ram do you intend on getting? Because you won't notice any dif if it is just 6GB>8GB.

 

[Gordo74]

If I were you, I'd get a new motherboard and do the following:

Sell i7 920
Buy Socket 1155 Motherboard
Buy 2500k (or 2600k if you want to blow $100 more for marginally better performance in the real world)
Buy another SINGLE stick of Patriot RAM that runs at the same speeds and run it in dual channel with the RAM you have now
Buy SSD for boot drive
Migrate everything over
Install windows.

 

[wrxdrunkie]

I would not upgrade the CPU and just how much ram do you intend on getting? Because you won't notice any dif if it is just 6GB>8GB.

Honestly I was planning on getting anywhere from 16gb to 24gb of RAM. I am TIRED of being low on RAM, lol, NEVER AGAIN!

My local Fry's right now has 16gb of 1600Mhz Patriot DDR3 for $165 after MIR.

They also have a 256gb Kingston V-100 SSD for $375 after MIR

Idk how I feel on upgrading the CPU, I don't think I am even close to maxing out my current CPU. Would the increase in performance be pretty significant?

 

[Dangman]

Why not RMA the motherboard? Should still be under warranty. Oh and I don't recommend switching platforms at all if you can still RMA the motherboard. Your current platform is fine.

With that said, if there's a very valid reason that you can't RMA that MSI mobo and if you're willing to sell your i7 920 and RAM (Assuming that it's rated 1.65V), then yeah a switch to a socket LGA 1155 motherboard and Core i5 2500K CPU would be a good idea.

SSD wise, I recommend sticking with Crucial's C300 or C400 SSDs or Intel's 320 or 510 series SSDs as those will be faster and of higher quality than any Kingston or most OCZ SSDs.

RAM wise, if that Patrio 16GB set is rated at 1.65V or higher, I would not recommend getting it.

 

[KrAzYaZnFLiP808]

You set up is quite new.. Heck its a i7 920. Your ram is effecient, I think you just cluttered your hard drive. Get a good SSD. Reformat, and reinstall windows. Overclock your Cpu to around 3 to 4ghz, and youll be golden. You'll be flying fast. Makes no sense to upgrade while your about half to a 1 generation behind. Heck. I would say same generations and just a minor tweak in the new sandy bridge platforms. Just like how you have the Q6600 and Q9400 series Core 2 Quad. Just a tweak, the Q9xxx is obviously better, but still Core 2 Quad series. So just get a new SSD, if you want, you can get ram, but I doubt that will make a difference, and reinstall windows. Everytime you reinstall windows, it makes your computer faster to me anyway!

 

[wrxdrunkie]

Why not RMA the motherboard? Should still be under warranty. Oh and I don't recommend switching platforms at all if you can still RMA the motherboard. Your current platform is fine.

SSD wise, I recommend sticking with Crucial's C300 or C400 SSDs or Intel's 320 or 510 series SSDs as those will be faster and of higher quality than any Kingston or most OCZ SSDs.

RAM wise, if that Patriot 16GB set is rated at 1.65V or higher, I would not recommend getting it.

Yeah I just noticed today that MSI has a 3 year warranty on their boards. I know they probably won't make it easy to RMA, especially since it still POSTs. Just has a bad RAM slot that if you use it, it takes away from your available RAM.

You set up is quite new.. Heck its a i7 920. Your ram is effecient, I think you just cluttered your hard drive. Get a good SSD. Reformat, and reinstall windows. Overclock your Cpu to around 3 to 4ghz, and youll be golden. You'll be flying fast. Makes no sense to upgrade while your about half to a 1 generation behind.

Thats kind of what I was thinking, I was reading on Tomshardware that a lowend SSD was around 85% faster than a highend mechanical drive and that a high-end SSD was about 88% faster than a highend mechanical drive. So I figured it would kind of be a wash, especially if I decide to use my MB again which has 3gb/s SATA ports.


If I RMA the board it should give me time to find exactly what I need online for a good price.

As far as RAM should I try to stick with the same model? Should all of the sticks be the same size?

http://www.frys.com/product/6222710?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

I think this is the RAM I currently have, would combining 3 2gb sticks and 3 4gb sticks cause any issue?

Just browsing 3 different webpages and having my media center extender (xbox 360) on to stream a movie and I am using 4.6 out of my 6gb of RAM.


Would a new network card or anything like that help make the media center extender run smoother with my computer and bog it down less?

 

[tiraides]

You definitely need to RMA the board. Your i7-920/X58 platform is still pretty good despite the arrival of Sandy Bridge.

I suggest that you stick with one 3x4GB kit (but grab a 1.5V set). Do you really think that you'll need more than 12GB of RAM?

The most notable performance boost you'll see is with an SSD in place of your HDD as the primary OS drive. Are you satisfied with your gaming frame rates? That will determine whether or not you "need" to upgrade your CrossFire setup soon.

 

[Dangman]

Yeah I just noticed today that MSI has a 3 year warranty on their boards. I know they probably won't make it easy to RMA, especially since it still POSTs. Just has a bad RAM slot that if you use it, it takes away from your available RAM.

Just get it RMA'd anyway.

As far as RAM should I try to stick with the same model? Should all of the sticks be the same size?

http://www.frys.com/product/6222710?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

I think this is the RAM I currently have, would combining 3 2gb sticks and 3 4gb sticks cause any issue?

You don't have to stick with the same model. If you're reusing that 6GB set, the new RAM you get must be rated at 1.65V and have similar timings. Thats about it. Shouldn't be any issue combining 3x2GB and 3x4GB.

Just browsing 3 different webpages and having my media center extender (xbox 360) on to stream a movie and I am using 4.6 out of my 6gb of RAM.

Which Windows are you using? Vista or 7? Something seems off here or the complete story isn't being told. I'm using Windows 7, have two Eve Online game clients open, Firefox with three windows open with 30+ tabs, Google Chrome with two windows open with 20+ tabs, a bunch of other apps using 100MB of RAM minimum, and I'm barely tipping 6GB of RAM use. A total of 98 processes here.

Would a new network card or anything like that help make the media center extender run smoother with my computer and bog it down less?

Yes and no: a new network NIC would improve LAN transfer speeds but only if the switch is full on gigabit and if the other PC is using a gigabit NIC as well. So the answer here is "maybe".