Hello all,
I am newer to the forums but frequently visit this site for news and tech help. I'll try not to make this over complicated but I could really use some advice. This was my first build i put together 2-3 years ago and even used advice I found here to run a successful 24/7 OC since then. I've been really happy with my results but am thinking it may be time for a change.
First, the build.
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 full tower.
Cpu: AMD Phenom II X6 Black 1090T @ 4GHZ
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-890XA-UD3 AM3 AMD 790X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
PSU: COOLER MASTER Silent Pro RSA00-AMBAJ3-US 1000W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.92 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
Cooler: CORSAIR Hydro series H50 High Performance CPU Cooler
GPU: SAPPHIRE 100311-2SR Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 x2 in Crossfirex
SSD: Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III
HDD: TOSHIBA PH3200U-1I72 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
HDD: Western Digital WD Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
This all started a few days back when I purchased this RAM kit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231460
I thought that I could squeeze a bit more performance out of some faster RAM. After I spent the entire day yesterday trying to get it to run at 1866 I realized that maybe my system has some other limitations then I had previously thought. It seems that taking my CPU above 4GHZ is not an option. I max out @ 1.5v which I believe is the highest it can be pushed and can't seem to run anything stable beyond that. my OC is here: http://valid.canardpc.com/2722484
Is this a limitation of My CPU? My Board? Or my own limited knowledge? I do not use my PC for video editing/rendering, Graphic design, or any other sort of "work". It's for gaming, watching movies, browsing the web etc. I look forward to playing new releases like Bioshock Infinite, FFXIV Realm Reborn, Crysis 3 and the like. It's not that I have any trouble gaming now. But working with PC's is also a hobby. One I'm trying to get better at. I'd like to not just run these games. I'd like to destroy them. Within my budget of course.
So my questions are as follows. Is my system at it's current peak? What's holding me back at this point? Should I upgrade my Mobo/CPU or both? If upgrading is the answer I would like to spend in the range of $200-$300 on each piece. What's going to be the best bang for my buck to get the gaming results that I want? I would like to tap into the wealth of knowledge that can be found here. Please help.
I am newer to the forums but frequently visit this site for news and tech help. I'll try not to make this over complicated but I could really use some advice. This was my first build i put together 2-3 years ago and even used advice I found here to run a successful 24/7 OC since then. I've been really happy with my results but am thinking it may be time for a change.
First, the build.
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 full tower.
Cpu: AMD Phenom II X6 Black 1090T @ 4GHZ
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-890XA-UD3 AM3 AMD 790X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
PSU: COOLER MASTER Silent Pro RSA00-AMBAJ3-US 1000W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.92 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
Cooler: CORSAIR Hydro series H50 High Performance CPU Cooler
GPU: SAPPHIRE 100311-2SR Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 x2 in Crossfirex
SSD: Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III
HDD: TOSHIBA PH3200U-1I72 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
HDD: Western Digital WD Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
This all started a few days back when I purchased this RAM kit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231460
I thought that I could squeeze a bit more performance out of some faster RAM. After I spent the entire day yesterday trying to get it to run at 1866 I realized that maybe my system has some other limitations then I had previously thought. It seems that taking my CPU above 4GHZ is not an option. I max out @ 1.5v which I believe is the highest it can be pushed and can't seem to run anything stable beyond that. my OC is here: http://valid.canardpc.com/2722484
Is this a limitation of My CPU? My Board? Or my own limited knowledge? I do not use my PC for video editing/rendering, Graphic design, or any other sort of "work". It's for gaming, watching movies, browsing the web etc. I look forward to playing new releases like Bioshock Infinite, FFXIV Realm Reborn, Crysis 3 and the like. It's not that I have any trouble gaming now. But working with PC's is also a hobby. One I'm trying to get better at. I'd like to not just run these games. I'd like to destroy them. Within my budget of course.
So my questions are as follows. Is my system at it's current peak? What's holding me back at this point? Should I upgrade my Mobo/CPU or both? If upgrading is the answer I would like to spend in the range of $200-$300 on each piece. What's going to be the best bang for my buck to get the gaming results that I want? I would like to tap into the wealth of knowledge that can be found here. Please help.