Help with next upgrade

Hello I'm still quite new with computer upgrades and what is needed and what just needs optimized. I have very little money when it comes to upgrading my computer but i do love to play games on high graphics.

I actually have a few questions about my computer and what i should do to get more out of it.

1: Recently I was able to get ahold of a free AMD HD 6770 which i happily tossed into my computer cross firing it with my current 5770. while seeing some improvement, it was still quite minor so is there any special way to optimize crossfire or am i already getting my max? I did see that my motherboards pci speeds are 16x/4x and i know this hurts crossfire performance but how much?

2: also i am looking to get another upgrade for my computer but im not sure which part is lacking most so ill post my specs at the end of the post and take opinions.

3: last question for the post today. I have had many people tell me that certain brands of RAM can pull off much higher speeds then other brands when you have the same amount and same bus speeds. is this true and if so which are the best brand names?

Thanks a lot guys hope i didnt bore anyone to much and im looking forward to everyones input.

graphics cards
amd 6770, 5770

processor
AMD Phenom II X4 970 black edition

motherboard
M4A87TD EVO

chipset
AMD 870

RAM
offbrand 2x- 2gig blocks running at 1600

if anymore info is needed just let me know thanks again

Hello and welcome to the forums!

thattomguy said:

1: Recently I was able to get ahold of a free AMD HD 6770 which i happily tossed into my computer cross firing it with my current 5770. while seeing some improvement, it was still quite minor so is there any special way to optimize crossfire or am i already getting my max? I did see that my motherboards pci speeds are 16x/4x and i know this hurts crossfire performance but how much?

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There are no special hardware tweaks that I am aware of. As for software tweaks, it is going to be determined by the drivers. Can you be more specific on why you feel improvements are not significant/ As a test, run 3DMark on both cards individually and then together. Report your findings here.

2: also i am looking to get another upgrade for my computer but im not sure which part is lacking most so ill post my specs at the end of the post and take opinions.

Click to expand...

I would suggest an SSD. This is probably the single most useful upgrade anybody can make. Suggestions will vary depending on your budget.

3: last question for the post today. I have had many people tell me that certain brands of RAM can pull off much higher speeds then other brands when you have the same amount and same bus speeds. is this true and if so which are the best brand names?

Click to expand...

I would not worry too much about upgrading your RAM to something faster. Instead, you can certainly add more RAM, i.e populate all your slots.

Cheers!

S-N

Just make sure you've got the 6770 in the x16 slot.

And as for upgrades...your proc and ram are fine, it is still the GPUs that are holding you back, but not by too much since they are in CF. If I were to upgrade that system, I would grab a PCIe x8 / x8 mobo.

Yea its def in the 16x slot as far as the motherboard upgrade what things should I look for if I deside to take that route?

Ill run those tests when I get home thanks.

As for the ssd from any info I've gotten the only benefit to an ssd is faster load times. Can this help with other processes as well?

Also if I were to populate my 2 open ram slots would that bring much of an upgrade or would it just be overkill

Also thanks for fast replys I really appreciate the help