Hello everyone, I'm thinking about upgrading my 1.5 year old computer. It works very well - thanks to the bit-tech community, with whom I originally discussed this build in Jan '10! But with some new games on the horizon (Skyrim) I think I'd like a bit more power. Proposed changes in bold. OS: Windows 7 64 bit. Motherboard: ASUS P6TD Deluxe Graphics card: Sapphire Radeon HD5870 -> Another Sapphire HD5870, crossfire Power supply unit: Enermax Revolution 85+ 850W Case: Lian Li Armorsuit PC-P50 RAM: Corsair Dominator GT PC3-12800 C7 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 -> Another set of 3x2gb corsair HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB + OCZ Vertex 3 60gb SSD, OS and Skyrim (lol). CPU: Intel Core i7 920 - not overclocked. -> consider overclocking? CPU cooler: Titan Fenrir I have a few questions that hopefully you guys can help out with: Do you think 2x 5870's in crossfire is a good idea? Or would a single new single GPU be better? What are the rules with adding more RAM to a computer? Does it need to be the exact same type as the first? Further, I can't figure out what my RAM's... "numbers" are. For example 8-8-8-24 (sorry, I don't even know what to call these numbers!). The website where I would likely buy more Corsair Dominator Ram has 3x2gb sets with 7-8-7-20 and another with 8-8-8-24. Do these numbers need to match my current RAM's numbers? And if so, how do I find out what those numbers are? Any other feedback/ suggestions are very welcome! Thanking everyone in advance!
If you don't want to go into your bios to get your memory timings, you can download speccy I find it a good general tool for finding info out. CPU-Z does the same aswell.
the only viable upgrades are another hd 5870 and a SSD.... the overclocking of the 920 is relatively easy so you should manage that without spending much...
I could be completely wrong but won't your current build be able to handle Skyrim just fine? I thought the (guessed, admittedly) recommended specs were <= what you already have. Just my $0.02, could be completely wrong, in which case I'm need some upgrades myself arachan.
I personally think that 6Gb of RAM is still plenty and you shouldn't need any extra if all you're doing is gaming. A SSD for OS is always a good move and while a second 5870 is a good idea, getting ahold of one might present a problem. If you find one, dive on it. Edit; Oh, and OC that 920!
imo that system doesn't need an upgrade. Definitely not the ram. 6gb is already plenty for gaming. Regarding gfx card, actually wait for the game to come out. Your card is still a bit of a beast and may easily cope at max details Only thing I would suggest is to give overclocking a try. Nothing too serious. Maybe just aim for 3.6GHz or so I noticed a large improvement with my i5 750 going from stock to 3.4 in battlefield bad company
Overclock that 920! No reason not to when you've got a good cooler like the Fenrir. 3.8GHz should be easily achievable and give you a nice performance boost.
Depending on how much you were going to spend on the other 5870 at current prices. You could always sell your current 5870 and buy a gtx 580. I'd wait for the game to be released and see what needs to be done then.
First off, i think the game will run ok with your current setup. The ram is fine as it is. 6gb is plenty for all games. Overclocking is a decent option, you have a quality PSU and motherboard so it is possible. My main advice would be to buy the game, play it, see how it runs. Only once you have tried it out would i bother looking into overclocking it. If you have good cpu cooling & airflow through your case then overclocking the CPU & GPU would give you a small boost in performance (if you end up needing it). Upgrade wise i reckon you could easily hang on until Feb/March time when you can see what sandy bridge-E or the new x79 chipset brings
