Anything worth upgrading?

[Sunburn74]

I just got a phenomenal score on my USMLE step 2. Its hard to describe to you guys the significance, but imagine you got a near perfect score on your SAT or on your GRE or something. Anyway I told myself when I was about to take the test that if I aced it, I'd buy 16gb of 1600mhz DDR3 corsair ram as an upgrade for my PC as a reward. I ended up buying the ram anyway because... Icouldn't pass up the deal, it was like 99 dollars and late at night, I get the clicky fingers!

Anyway so as a reward for my great score, I can definitely upgrade something else.
Here is my rig:
Case: Silverstone FT02 (its not going anywhere, I love the case and nothing else even tempts me. I put it here for completeness)
CPU: i7-2600k @ 4.4ghz and 1.26v at max load (22-24 deg c at idle, load around mid 50s)
Cooler- Thermalright Ultra 120 w/ a very silent 120mm fan
Motherboard: GA-p67x-UD3-B3
Memory: 16gb Corsair Vengeance Ram 1600mhz
GPU: EVGA GTX 570 (kinda too noisy for my taste but haven't been able to pull the trigger on a downgrade to something quieter. This however is the part that annoys me the most)
Drives: 1) 2x 80GB Intel X-25M G1 in RAID-0 and 2)Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB storage/backup drive
Audio-Auzentech X-fi forte PCIE card
Headphones: Sennheiser- HD600s
TV tuner- Geniatech X8000 PCI card (its kinda a crappy but it works and I only watch one tv show a week)
Mouse-Logitech MX performance mouse
Keyboard-Logitech k750 solar keyboard
Monitor- HP 2709m (27inch 1920x1080 res monitor)

I see the list and I'm very impressed with the parts I've managed to accumulate over the years now that I look at it. But is there anything there I can upgrade even kinda frivously that would be noticeable? Lets keep the upgrade price under $200 here...

 

[T_Yamamoto]

No. theres nothing to change.

YOUR BUILD IS LITERALLY NEW!
maybe SLI?

 

[lehtv]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186048

I think EVGA doesn't mind if you install this. If you need to RMA the card just install the original cooler back and it's fine. Also be careful with the screws, make sure you have a correct size screw driver, otherwise you'll just "screw it up".

Also, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVtFTGqMpuE

 

[mfenn]

No, there are no cost-effective upgrades for your machine. You have a high-end system already.

Non cost-effective upgrades would include:
- RAID 0 Crucial M4 128GB
- SLI GTX 570s (with PSU upgrade if necessary)
- 30" monitor

 

[Sunburn74]

thanks for pointing out the cooler. that actually seems like a pretty sweet idea and would solve a nagging problem.

the 30 inch monitor also appeals... though that may faciliate a gpu upgrade...

that cooler though... very very smart. Man amazing call there... Thanks!

I wish they would make a gpu form of the enclosed water cooling units like the corsair h60 and etc

 

[lehtv]

I wish they would make a gpu form of the enclosed water cooling units like the corsair h60 and etc

There already is one GTX 580 with such a cooler. It's pretty terrible. GPUs generate so much more heat than CPUs that it's not really a feasible solution

 

[Sunburn74]

I think that I am now definitely in themarket for an aftermarket cooler for my evga gtx 570.

I like the accelero but there do seem to be some problems
1) reports about shorting out the board if the screws are too tight and taking out your entire PC
2) reports that the VRMs on the board don't cool properly and overheat even though your gpu is nicely cooled

Are there any other aftermarket coolers that are recommendable for the gtx 570 with a stock cooler?

 

[lehtv]

There's the massive quad-slot Thermalright Shaman... You'd probably have to buy a separate VRM heatsink kit for that.

BTW it could be possible to install a Thermalright VRM heatsink simultaneously with the Accelero. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w_upK9Fsp4

 

[Slugbait]

After looking over that list of components, I'm confident in suggesting that you should upgrade to a girlfriend.

 

[GoStumpy]

^^ hahaha!!

Anyhoo.

Just throwing something out there, but have you thought about water-cooling?

Perhaps you can water-cool your CPU and GPU at the same time, and only have the fans cooling the radiator ?

If I had a rig like that, and was able to spend MORE money, I would definitely look at water-cooling

 

[Sunburn74]

After looking over that list of components, I'm confident in suggesting that you should upgrade to a girlfriend.

Haha very funny. Have had a gf for 2.5 years straight FYI. She and my rig are both my babies. Like I said its upgrades over the years. So whilst the rig is expensive on paper, the actually process hasn't been (sell off the old parts, buy new parts). Its more like buying one or two parts every 6 months for 3 years (roughly). For example, to upgrade to the corsair ram I spent 99 dollars and sold off the 8gb sticks I had previously for 47 dollars. And so on.

I am seriously eyeing the artic cooling though, it would fix a major problem with my rig.

Water cooling is a no no, but a good idea. 1) I'd screw up the install without a doubt (I'm not all that toolsy), 2) it'd make my box a little less service friendly, 3) my temps and noise levels are already fabulous (outside of the gpu and with the gpu I don't care about temps but just noise), and 4) whilst my case can tolerate a dual radiator it doesn't do so well (the ft02 is inverted and you'd need to fit the dual radiator in the space between your gpu and the bottom 180mm case fans. If you google the case, you'll see what I mean). My PC was built for silence and it does so very well already. Again its not that the gpu is bad (I haven't pulled the trigger and flat out replaced it yet like other cards in the past), but that its just annoying enough to where I could do something about it. My cpu cooler, PSU. and case fans are of the silent variety though.

BTW the one TV show I watch a week: NFL football. Thats actually a bit of a lie. I watch the local game with my tv tuner, and the sunday night game streamed on NBC. So there!

Edit: well its not as bad as I thought but its still pretty hard to watercool on this case
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/chino1127/GameStation/DSC_0271B.jpg
That is one drool worthy PC, I tell you what.

 

[tigersty1e]

Get a thermalright shaman cooler on that gpu and enjoy total silence even while gaming. You may also get more ooompph out of your gpu.

 

[lehtv]

Have had a gf for 2.5 years straight FYI. She and my rig are both my babies. Like I said its upgrades over the years

Yeah, one takes upgrades in silicon, the other in silicone LOL

 

[Sunburn74]

BTW, thanks for the reponses. I am 100 percent sold on the cooler and am in the process of ordering one. Thanks again. Anandtech forums comes through again in the clutch.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

yay! Celebration time

no alcohol though