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Ideas for Refining My Setup

A

abovegod

n00b
Joined
Jul 9, 2008
Messages
9
Last November I put together a system with my budget currently at that time and have been very happy with it thus far. I have been thinking that I am not really pushing my system to its capabilities and would like some suggestions for tightening it up. I know I have some obvious weak points with my system and would like to replace them with better parts. I would like some suggestions as to what I could do and possibly help gear up for either a water cooling setup or just a nice air set up.

My System:

CPU Q660
MB XFX 780i
Mem Corsair 4x1024 CM2x1024-6400C4 (4-4-4-12)
Vid Diamond 4850 512mb
PSU CoolerMaster 650w
Case CM690
CPU Fan GoldenOrb2

Drives DVD Pioneer DVR-109 ATA
320gig WD3200aaks (boot)
80gig WD800jd (for music and documents)
1tb Hitachi hds721010kla

ps-first post. I haven't been a posting member of the hard forum since they took the post counts away. I didn't stop posting because of that though. :)
 
The biggest weak spot you have is with the motherboard, as most (if not all) Intel-based NVIDIA SLI boards aren't very stable, especially while overclocked. If overclocking is a priority for you, you should consider getting a new motherboard.

Which specific model power supply do you have? Which "brand" of Corsair RAM are you using? How old is your WD3200AAKS HDD?

A good air-based CPU cooler, like the Xigmatek HDT-S1283, can handle a good overclock of your Q6600.
 
Well, what is holding you back - what is is that you want to do that you can't do now or want to do faster?
 
Well, I have not overclocked a system since high school since I really couldn't afford to replace parts If they screwed up but I would like to get back in to tinkering around with my system. So I guess overclocking would be a priority.

the psu is this one RS-650-ACAA-A1.

Ram is XMS and I honestly think its crap, but I am no expert.

Thanks for the replys btw

edit- the drives almost a year old. Why do you ask?
 
ShotSkydiver said:
You could always put in a second 4850.
Click to expand...

Wrong. The board that the OP has uses a chipset that supports SLI, which only works with NVIDIA cards.

abovegod said:
Well, I have not overclocked a system since high school since I really couldn't afford to replace parts If they screwed up but I would like to get back in to tinkering around with my system. So I guess overclocking would be a priority.

the psu is this one RS-650-ACAA-A1.

Ram is XMS and I honestly think its crap, but I am no expert.

Thanks for the replys btw

edit- the drives almost a year old. Why do you ask?
Click to expand...

I asked about the age of the hard drive to determine whether or not you have the single-platter WD3200AAKS, which is a much faster hard drive. The power supply is a good model, so you don't have to worry about upgrading it. I doubt the RAM is crap, but you haven't told us whether or not you were having any problems with system stability.

The motherboard that you're currently using may be impacting your overclocking potential more than the memory.

I have another question: How much, at most, are you willing to spend on upgrades?
 
I guess I did mention a question earlier. I would like to overclock this setup to see what I could possibly get out of it. I mostly game on this system. I would like either a air or water setup and would like to make it very clean and professional looking. So I wouldn't investing some time into it but my main concern is spending money on it only to be disappointing by performance.

tiraides said:
I asked about the age of the hard drive to determine whether or not you have the single-platter WD3200AAKS, which is a much faster hard drive. I doubt the RAM is crap, but you haven't told us whether or not you were having any problems with system stability.

The motherboard that you're currently using may be impacting your overclocking potential more than the memory.

I have another question: How much, at most, are you willing to spend on upgrades?
Click to expand...

So, Do you think it is the single platter or not? Also, why I said that my memory is crap was because It is advertised at 4-4-4-12 but I cannot get it to post at that speed. Other than that my system has been pretty solid. Temps seem to be pretty low on everything as well.

I haven't really thought about a price range for upgrades. I am fairly open for any suggestions.
 
You'll have to look at the revision number on the drive label to find out if its the single platter. Alternatively, you could DL, install, and run HDTune and post your results of that drive test. If its around 90MB/s, its the newer, single platter drive. If its in the 60MB/s range, its the older 2-platter design.

Give us a number or people will start suggesting $1000 upgrades.
 
I ran HDtune today and it ran on avg around 70 mb/s so its not the single platter. As far as a budget goes I would like to stay preferably in the 300-500 range to be comfortable.
 
And the type of question asked multiple times already in this thread that you haven't provided at all:

enginurd said:
What app/game does your system run slowly?
Click to expand...

Are you trying to run Doom 2 at 1920*1200? CS 1.6 at 1920*1200? Crysis at 1920*1200?
 
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