Considering Upgrades

[ShadowValentine]

Hi, I'm currently looking for a new case for my system here, and I was wondering if I should bother upgrading some parts while I'm at it.


This is a picture of my current setup:
Link!

I'm considering upgrading the motherboard, CPU and RAM.
Currently the system has:

Intel i7 950 (Clocked at 3.33GHz)
ASUS Rampage III Formula
3 x 4GB Corsair Dominator
ASUS GTX 680 DirectCU II

I'm currently located in Australia, most likely using PLE, MSY or Austin Computers for parts. I intend to use the system for gaming.
EDIT: PC Case Gear is also an option.

This system was built for me by a contact, who also happened to be the cause of the need for a new case. I've decided to start doing these things myself, so I apologize for any noobiness I demonstrate or have demonstrated in the past xD

Details:
The CPU has an aftermarket heat sink which has two fans currently sitting on the PSU cooling it (You can see it in the picture, it's a really odd setup). It is one of the reasons I'm considering replacing the CPU, I get a better CPU, a heatsink with a dedicated fan and reduce the amount of unesecured parts in my case. Would I be better off getting a new heatsink, or even just leaving it as is when I port my system over to the new case?

I'm also most likely going to replace a large amount of the HDDs in the system, there are currently far too many and mismatching. Currently it has within:

3x 2TB Caviar Green, one of which doesn't like to have a drive letter,
5x 1TB Caviar Black, half of which aren't plugged in due to a lack of SATA ports,
2x Corsair Force 3 128GB SSDs that were originally meant to be RAIDed but never were,
1x DVD drive I don't know the make of.

Might just replace the HDDs with 2TB Caviar Blacks, suggestions?

My budget is <AU$1000, that is the most I'm willing to spend right now.

Sorry about the wall of text, and thank you in advance ^^

 

[mfenn]

For the HDDs, don't pay the Caviar Black premium. Buy Seagates or Caviar Blues instead and use the savings to invest in a backup system (read: more drives). Drives are commodities, the data is what you really want to protect.

As for the CPU, understand that a Nehalem at 3.33Ghz with 12GB of RAM is no slouch. Even an i7 4770K is not that much faster. You could certainly spend $600 on a new setup, but I'm not sure that you'd notice it all that much in gaming.

 

[ShadowValentine]

Yeah, my case thread's also gone into recommendations for upgrades, it seems @_@ Seagate ST2000DM001 were recommended instead of Cav Blacks. I also have a decidedly strange cpu cooler, which was my primary reason to want to upgrade, especially if i was changing motherboards. I was recommended to get this for a cooler if I wanted to stay with my Nehalem. It was also mentioned newer cpus would be faster per thread and use less electricity.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=35438275#post35438275

 

[mfenn]

Your current HSF is certainly a little goofy, but it's obviously cooling pretty well to keep the i7 950 stable at 3.33 GHz. So it's not an immediate upgrade priority unless you really have nothing else to spend money on at this time.

 

[ShadowValentine]

It has two unsecured fans sitting on top of my power supply.... xD;

 

[mfenn]

It has two unsecured fans sitting on top of my power supply.... xD;

Ain't nothing a few zip ties can't fix.

 

[ShadowValentine]

Haha, one sits in a very narrow corridor between the ram and the heatsink, and the other sits directly in front of its socket, near the mounting bracket of the heatsink and beside the heatsink itself. If either move, which happens more than I'd like, I hear a grinding noise =P

Not really anywhere to ziptie them to, unless I tie one to the ram, cpu and heatsink and the other to the heatsink and the other fan...

Edit: What's a HSF?

 

[mfenn]

Haha, one sits in a very narrow corridor between the ram and the heatsink, and the other sits directly in front of its socket, near the mounting bracket of the heatsink and beside the heatsink itself. If either move, which happens more than I'd like, I hear a grinding noise =P

Not really anywhere to ziptie them to, unless I tie one to the ram, cpu and heatsink and the other to the heatsink and the other fan...

They're both sitting on top of the PSU fan grill, you should be able to loop a ziptie around a run on that and then the mounting hole on the fan itself.

 

[ShadowValentine]

Well, I'm looking at changing cases anyway, since I want to have side panels again, so the positioning might change.