Thinking about upgrading system or getting some more power out of it

[Deleted]

Hello guys and gals, I want to get some more juice out of my pc and so I would like some recommendations.

Right now I'm running:

CPU: Intel I5-3570K 3.4Ghz @ 3.7 Ghz
Fan: Alpenfön Brocken
GPU: XFX Radeon HD 7950 GPU @900 and RAM @ 1375 Mhz
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G43
RAM: G Skill F3-12800CL9-4GBRL x2 so @ 8GB of RAM, AIDA 64 tells me it's running at 800 MHz (9-9-9-24)
Monitor: ACER S242 HL Cbid
SSD: Vertex 4 OCZ SA3
Power: 530W 80+
Windows 7 64 bit

I mainly play WOW or other video games and watch movies etc.

Is there anything I can upgrade cheaply that brings a good performance boost? Thinking about 50 - 100 € on that and maybe a second monitor? Should I get a different monitor?

If you have any more questions go ahead. I'm grateful for any help I can get.

(Sorry for bad english, born and raised in Germany)

[Toffie]

You have no aftermarket cooler for the CPU ?

[Deleted]

Sorry don't know how to put this in a spoiler tag or reduce the size :/
Sorry the cooler is the Alpenfön Brocken

[Saphyron]

for 100euro i doubt you can get an upgrade tbh maybe get another 8gigs of ram or a new moniter

The cpu is pretty good and the only upgrade to that one would be 200 euro and that is not even counting that you have to replace the mobo.
the gpu while not great is still pretty good and a upgrade from amd would be and the price for an upgrade would be around 200 euro as well.

Don't know why you need to upgrade since it is pretty good already.

[axhed]

lol i'm out of the loop but that thing looks twice as powerful as the rig i'm hoping to build in the next 6 months.

the only thing i don't see listed is speakers. a nice set of 5.1's will change your gaming experience. it's pretty awesome when you're just hovering on a drake and the pictures on the wall rattle with every wingflap.

[Deleted]

Mhh thanks so far. Is there any tuning you can recommend like overclocking or so? Mainly for WoW.

@chaosjones: A new monitor or a second one? Would a second one have a significant hit on performance?
I could save up for the GPU I'm in no rush. Can you recommend one that gives a big boost? What difference would a new cpu make? Since I've read wow is very cpu reliant. Oh and Ram do I get a good performance boost from more ram? Are the timings okay? Because it said I could go to 1100 mhz or so in AIDA but I have no idea about ram timings.

@axhed: Good idea, any recommendations on that? I only have a 2.1 right now from logitech I think. And thank you.

[Ripox]

800Mhz RAM?????

Get that up to 1333 or 1600 PLEASE!

Unless it's referring to the speed before the double data rate multiplier, which would make it 1600mhz and good to go.

You can't get a major performance upgrade for 50-100 euros, go for audio/peripherals/monitor

[Deleted]

Memory Size 8 GBytes
Channels Dual
Memory Frequency 798.1 MHz (1:6)
CAS# latency (CL) 11.0
RAS# to CAS# delay (tRCD) 11
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 11
Cycle Time (tRAS) 28
Command Rate (CR) 1T

So Ram should be fine right?


As I have said earlier I can save up some money to it's not like I need it ASAP.

[Krasuss]

what case do you have OP ?

Best thing for you would be buying some great cooler like Noctua NH-D14 or some all in 1 watercooler like H100i if your case allows it and OC even more, cause i dont think upgrading this CPU is that needed at this point. Just make sure your cooling is good enough and airflow in your case aswell and save up for new GPU...all new GPUs output massive heat especially AMD cards so fixing cooling beforehand is good idea while saving for GPU and you will be entertained atlest

I got the same CPU OC@4.5Ghz and managed to save up for ASUS GTX780 after a while and now my PC handles everything i throw at it at max np The GPU is awesome even tho GTX770 would be enough for 1920x1080 i just couldnt resist

Buying more ram wont help if all you do is playing and no video editing.

[Deleted]

I have a Zalman Z9 Plus ATX, good point though, is it difficult to put in watercooling? A little afraid, because one leak and boom, liquid and electricity like each other a little too much.

[Deleted]

Memory Size 8 GBytes
Channels Dual
Memory Frequency 798.1 MHz (1:6)
CAS# latency (CL) 11.0
RAS# to CAS# delay (tRCD) 11
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 11
Cycle Time (tRAS) 28
Command Rate (CR) 1T

So Ram should be fine right?

On your first post you say G Skill F3-12800CL9-4GBRL
thats running at 1600MHz(dual channel) and i think it should be 9-9-9-24 as in:
CL : 9.0
tRCD: 9.0
tRP: 9.0
tRAS: 24

[Deleted]

Spend nothing and overclock both the cpu and gpu a bit. Cooler looks decent enough.

Should get 1100mhz out the gpu and 4.5 ghz out the cpu easily.

[Deleted]

On your first post you say G Skill F3-12800CL9-4GBRL
thats running at 1600MHz(dual channel) and i think it should be 9-9-9-24 as in:
CL : 9.0
tRCD: 9.0
tRP: 9.0
tRAS: 24

Those were the numbers CPU-Z gave me.

Spend nothing and overclock both the cpu and gpu a bit. Cooler looks decent enough.

Should get 1100mhz out the gpu and 4.5 ghz out the cpu easily.

Okay thanks, I'll try that first. Any tips on how high the temps are okay, or should I ask Mr. Google for that?