Best upgrade path on upgraded system??

[mrhdream]

Hey all!

I have a Dell XPS 8000 (i5-750, 4gb ddr 1033), and recently went on an upgrade bonanza, I caught the bug and cannot stop. In retrospect, I should have just built my own pc, but nevertheless let me tell you my story, and I hope to get some advice on what to do next.

About 2 months ago, after constantly reading up on tech/games, etc..., why not try to speed up my [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]computer[/COLOR][/COLOR]. I was quite content at that point, but I have this problem, where I just can't stand not having the most use out of whatever device I have (car-now I have a souped up audio system/video, home-nice arcam components etc..), so I began with the prospect of overclocking my PC.

Ah, it's a Dell, after reading numerous posts, I thought that for sure there was just no way to overclock this comp. without a new motherboard or flashing a new [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]bios[/COLOR][/COLOR].
I stumbled upon a link on [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]youtube[/COLOR][/COLOR]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-n83xgh4pA
Gave it a try, and surely enough it worked.
I loaded up core temp and verified that my [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]FSB[/COLOR][/COLOR] was actually increased.

Then I started looking at the temperatures, even before overclocking, my temps would easily hit 74 on a light load, this is with a ati 4350 at the time. Well, if I want to overclock, I better my temps down...

Purchased a (arctic cooling freezer pro 7) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 207%20pro.
Temps def. dropped, now with a overclocked cpu i'm hitting under 65 load.

Well, if i overclocked my cpu, I figure I should just go ahead and upgrade my gpu to try and maximize what i have. The dell is a tight fit, with an anemic 350watt PSU with one 6 pin PCI-E cable, and only one PCI-E 16 slot I wanted an effecient graphics card, decided on sapphire 6850 (in retrospect should have gotten a gtx 260, you'll see why later...)

So after tinkering, why not maximize the 6850? Lets overclock it! At this point I realize that overclocking a cpu and gpu on a 350 psu probably not a good idea.

Let's upgrade.

Purchased a Corsair HX650W. Absolutely LOVE IT! Fits right in the stock case, modular design gives me flexibility as the dell mobo is a mini-atx design, with cramped internal space.

So let's overclock both cpu/gpu now, temps too high, ok lets go ahead an add a new fan (arctic F9pwm) to the cpu heatsink for push-pull effect. Temps at 69 on full load.

Kind of dissapointed in temps. I do an experiment, I noticed temps creep up when gpu is being pushed, using the sapphire trixx, I put my fan speed to 60%, and BOOM.No, my [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]computer[/COLOR][/COLOR] did not explode, but my temps dropped to 64 max!

Realizing I need more cooling, I change the 92mm case fan out with a arctic tri-cool 92mm fan, w/ fan control, set it to high speed, temps max hitting 60 now with the GPU on auto-fan (have not tried to keep gpu fan up yet with this set up, as it was completed about 1 hr ago

Ok, I feel good about system now, idel temps around 22C, load in low 60's. I still have the bug, what else can I do to improve the system.

Here is a profile of my system using various utilities: http://i1222.photobucket.com/album [...] G_0231.jpg

Here is my system.
http://i1222.photobucket.com/album [...] G_0225.jpg

1: Is replacing ram a worthwhile idea? I have fairly slow ram, yet somehow with my high FSB overclock it seems to run, I wonder if purchasing higher speed ram would increase chances of overclocking FSb more? (any FSB approaching 160 is not stable)

2. Is the ram safe to run at such a high speed?

3. Any utility in adding a new intake fan? Note how there are really only 2.5 areas of intake (one on the front bottom of the case, on the side panel). I open up an empty drive bay to expose more area for intake.
Look here: http://i1222.photobucket.com/album [...] G_0227.jpg
and here: http://i1222.photobucket.com/album [...] G_0228.jpg

4. SSD drive a worthy investment?

Any other thoughts?
Would happily answer any questions about my system,
thanks!!

 

[mnewsham]

SSD is about the best thing that could help you. Your temps are fine and are considered fairly cool already, no real point in trying to add MORE fans. Better RAM might help, but most higher end RAM comes with heat sinks which if i am seeing it correctly wont fit that easily with your HSF.

 

[mrhdream]

thanks for the reply!
Funny thing, I read various reviews onthe tri-cool fan, and others, that some motherboards power supplies are simply not enough to drive the fans.
I connected the fan directly to the PSU and whoa! Big difference! Fan is actually now moving good air. At the high speed, had max load temps around 54, on medium hitting 57-59 which is where i've kept it, so no additional fans for me.

Ram?: Is it still safe to run this slow ram at such a higher speed?
Is it worthwhile to upgrade the ram speed for safety, and would it improve chance to overclock FSB even more?
I don't think heat sink would be an issue as I would just purchased 2 dimms so that it is not directly under the cpu fan.

thanks again!!!

 

[mnewsham]

thanks for the reply!
Funny thing, I read various reviews onthe tri-cool fan, and others, that some motherboards power supplies are simply not enough to drive the fans.
I connected the fan directly to the PSU and whoa! Big difference! Fan is actually now moving good air. At the high speed, had max load temps around 54, on medium hitting 57-59 which is where i've kept it, so no additional fans for me.

Ram?: Is it still safe to run this slow ram at such a higher speed?
Is it worthwhile to upgrade the ram speed for safety, and would it improve chance to overclock FSB even more?
I don't think heat sink would be an issue as I would just purchased 2 dimms so that it is not directly under the cpu fan.

thanks again!!!

Depending on the motherboard if RAM is put into incorrect slots it will run in single channel mode not dual but YMMV. It depends on the speed you are running the RAM and what it was designed to run.

 

[Denithor]

Replacing RAM is pretty pointless, if it's running fine just leave it alone. And should be fine as long as you haven't pushed the voltage too high.

SSD offers the best (only noticeable) upgrade remaining for this system...

 

[mrhdream]

Thanks for the suggestion.
I think an SSD would be next on my agenda, now only if the prices would come down!
I think that anything smaller than a 256mb drive would be too tight for my likings.
Any suggestions on drive?
thanks!

 

[mnewsham]

Thanks for the suggestion.
I think an SSD would be next on my agenda, now only if the prices would come down!
I think that anything smaller than a 256mb drive would be too tight for my likings.
Any suggestions on drive?
thanks!

I dont see why you think you need 256GB, this isnt your only drive, you should have a 60-120GB SSD for your boot drive, and then important apps and games. I have a 64GB drive with W7, all of the applications i use regularly and 1-2 games at a time. everything else is kept on my hard drive. You do NOT want to store photos, videos, and movies on the SSD.


This is my recommendation.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820233107

 

[mrhdream]

yeah, I suppose your right, I do have a few extra hardrives, could just offload everything to those.
Seems like a nice SSD, prob just wait for price to drop a bit.

I like the desktop setup I have now, but I hear that its best to do a clean install of Win 7 on the SSD, and then just transfer everything over?
Would you agree? Or is there an easier method?
thanks!

 

[mnewsham]

yeah, I suppose your right, I do have a few extra hardrives, could just offload everything to those.
Seems like a nice SSD, prob just wait for price to drop a bit.

I like the desktop setup I have now, but I hear that its best to do a clean install of Win 7 on the SSD, and then just transfer everything over?
Would you agree? Or is there an easier method?
thanks!

there are ways to clone your HDD and transfer it to the SSD, i find it easier to just do a clean install however.