New build. Looking for advice.

[dr0be]

My current setup is; Q6600 @ 3.0ghz, 4GB DDR2-800, MSI GTX560Ti, Gigabyte P35-DS4 Rev2.0, 2 Asus 1920x1080 monitors, Corsair 620W PSU

I'm assuming my CPU and RAM is bottlenecking my new video card (as I figured it would) because I've been playing The Witcher 2, SC2, etc and it is decently laggy when I run 1920x1080 on higher settings. I'm looking to upgrade to be able to play Skyrim and BF3 on higher settings smoothly. I know two 1080p monitors takes a lot of GPU power, so if I upgraded to DDR3 and something around a i5-2500k, would I notice a huge difference? Or would I have to SLI to really make an impact?

Was thinking i5-2500k, 4GB DDR3,

So all my questions are;
0) Would I notice a large difference if I upgraded to DDR3 and a 2500k cpu? Or would I really need to SLI another gtx560ti to power 2 1080p monitors.
1) What clock speed RAM is common these days?
2) P67 or Z68 NBridge?
3) 2nd 560Ti?
4) 4GB or 8GB RAM?

 

[Gooberlx2]

For the price of RAM, go 8GB.

 

[mfenn]

I assume that you're spanning games across both monitors? If so, yes you really need more than a single GTX 560 Ti to push that many pixels.

As for your specific questions:
0) Not a large difference, but yes a difference. You do need SLI (or a better single GPU) to push 3840x1080 though. That's 4.1M pixels, about the same as the standard 30" monitor resolution (2560x1600).
1) DDR3 1333 and DDR3 1600 are the most common. I say to go with DDR3 1333 because it's usually a bit cheaper and the performance difference is negligible. (though deals can be had on 1600).
2) Z68
3) Yes
4) 8GB

 

[dr0be]

I assume that you're spanning games across both monitors? If so, yes you really need more than a single GTX 560 Ti to push that many pixels.

I'm actually only playing games on one and using the second for facebook, reddit, etc whatever I have open. Even with one monitor not rendering games it is still pretty laggy when running higher settings.

 

[mfenn]

I'm actually only playing games on one and using the second for facebook, reddit, etc whatever I have open. Even with one monitor not rendering games it is still pretty laggy when running higher settings.

Oh ok, a single 560 Ti should be fine then. Here's an experiment that you can do to determine whether or not you are CPU limited.

First play the game at your normal (high) settings and make note of the average framerate with FRAPS. Then go into the options and turn all graphical settings and resolution down to low (leave anything CPU-intensive like physics turned on). Play through the same section of the game as before, keeping note of the framerate again.

If your framerate improved by lowering the graphics settings, you are GPU-limited.
If your framerate stayed the same after lowering the graphics settings, you are CPU-limited.

Additionally, since you have two monitors, you can pull up the task manager on the secondary display and look at the CPU utilization graph.

 

[dr0be]

Oh ok, a single 560 Ti should be fine then. Here's an experiment that you can do to determine whether or not you are CPU limited.

First play the game at your normal (high) settings and make note of the average framerate with FRAPS. Then go into the options and turn all graphical settings and resolution down to low (leave anything CPU-intensive like physics turned on). Play through the same section of the game as before, keeping note of the framerate again.

If your framerate improved by lowering the graphics settings, you are GPU-limited.
If your framerate stayed the same after lowering the graphics settings, you are CPU-limited.

Additionally, since you have two monitors, you can pull up the task manager on the secondary display and look at the CPU utilization graph.

I didn't do the experiment to the full effect - but I just cranked TW2 to max settings (from my semi-high custom settings I was at) and just walking around a town I was lagging with about 10-15 fps. I just figured when I bought this GTX560Ti it would be able to handle stuff like that, but I guess the extra monitor, even though it's displaying just my desktop, is hindering game performance?

 

[mfenn]

The extra monitor shouldn't really reduce the performance by very much if it's just displaying the desktop. I've read that The Witcher 2 is pretty beastly maxed out, so it's probably best to test in the other direction (go to all minimum and measure performance).

 

[dr0be]

The extra monitor shouldn't really reduce the performance by very much if it's just displaying the desktop. I've read that The Witcher 2 is pretty beastly maxed out, so it's probably best to test in the other direction (go to all minimum and measure performance).

I'm opening up crysis 2 and seeing what it can handle. If I were to upgrade to the build above as well as another GTX560Ti, would my Corsair 620W be enough? Used Antecs PSU Wattage calc and it's saying 647 :\

 

[mfenn]

I'm opening up crysis 2 and seeing what it can handle. If I were to upgrade to the build above as well as another GTX560Ti, would my Corsair 620W be enough? Used Antecs PSU Wattage calc and it's saying 647 :\

Assuming you have a reasonable proportion of that 620W available on the 12V rail, you should be fine. Guru3D measured 448W total system power draw with an overclocked i7 965.