Where would be the best upgrade?

[slightlyhuman]

I currently have a decent system(for my uses) but know something is holding me back. I recently acquired the 290x for $250 bucks but feel like it should like I still have room to upgrade.

Current system:

i7-2600k @ 4.4ghz
128GB SSD(wanting to upgrade to 256GB)
3x2GB DDR3 G Skill
600W PSU
144hz ASUS 24"
Tri-X 290X

I don't game a whole lot, arma 3 and a few other games. Currently I'm seeking to upgrade to 2x8GB DDR3 and a 256GB HD.

What seems to be the biggest bottleneck? Is my 2600k future proof for another year or two pending I'm not trying to play the latest game out @ ultra settings? I'm really wanting to max Arma 3 out @ 60-100FPS. Would an upgrade to a haswell CPU put my way ahead or another 290x for xfire(after another PSU of course)?

Just looking for some opinions :beer;

 

[Charlie98]

Offhand, I don't see anything glaringly wrong with your current setup... what kind of performance (FPS) are you getting with it now?

The bigger SSD and better RAM layout would be nice, but I don't think that's your problem.

 

[slightlyhuman]

Right now with Arma at 1920x1080 mixture of High and Ultra I'm getting 40-70FPS.. I figured going from my 670 GTX to 290X would shoot me over 100FPS @ 1080p.

 

[slightlyhuman]

Would there be a noticeable different going to 8GB or even 16GB DDR3?

I do use gopro studio quite a bit, would memory help with video processing at all? Other than that I play quake 2 and that's about it. If 6GB will hold me over until next year after DDR4 comes out and DDR3 drops even lower, I'll hold off..

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, with 3x2GB of DDR3, you're not going to run in dual-channel for your last 2GB of RAM. I would strongly consider getting a 4th stick, if you're not going to buy 2x8GB. As long as that 4th DIMM slot isn't defective for some reason.

 

[slightlyhuman]

Well, with 3x2GB of DDR3, you're not going to run in dual-channel for your last 2GB of RAM. I would strongly consider getting a 4th stick, if you're not going to buy 2x8GB. As long as that 4th DIMM slot isn't defective for some reason.

Would there be a noticeable upgrade(even if it's slight) in jumping up to 16GB?

 

[Charlie98]

Would there be a noticeable upgrade(even if it's slight) in jumping up to 16GB?

Depends on what your video processing needs are... I would monitor your RAM usage to see if you are tapping your RAM limits. Larry is right, getting a 4th 2GB stick of RAM would be the economical solution... if you don't really need 16GB.

 

[Termie]

Would there be a noticeable upgrade(even if it's slight) in jumping up to 16GB?

For gaming, absolutely not. A 2GB stick is all you need.

Even a Haswell i7 would only add about a 15% performance boost, so I'd say you're close to maxed out. It would get you closer to your goal in Arma, but it certainly isn't worth the $500 it would cost to upgrade the CPU and board.

 

[slightlyhuman]

thanks guys.

quick question about the 2GB stick, does it have to be the exact brand/model as the other 3 in order to obtain dual channel speeds?

 

[Essence_of_War]

I'd echo everyone else saying 4th RAM stick.

If your SSD is getting tight, you can double up (256GB MX100) for ~$100, or quad-up (512GB MX100) for ~$200. Unless you're close to like 75+% capacity, and the money is burning a hole in your pocket, I probably wouldn't bother.

Do you have a decent cooler on the 2600K? If you don't already, the ACFZ i30 is a great HSF for ~$30-35. Alternatively, I recently greatly improved my satisfaction with my CM Evo by swapping the stock fan with an NF-A15. It runs cooler, and MUCH quieter.

quick question about the 2GB stick, does it have to be the exact brand/model as the other 3 in order to obtain dual channel speeds?

If possible, yes. It should be identical.

 

[Termie]

thanks guys.

quick question about the 2GB stick, does it have to be the exact brand/model as the other 3 in order to obtain dual channel speeds?

...



If possible, yes. It should be identical.

An identical stick is definitely the easiest, but just a caveat to that - if it's hard to find the same model, I would simply recommend going with the same frequency, timings, and voltage. The model and even brand don't matter. I routinely run mixed brands, and even mixed timings/frequencies, but of course if you do the latter, you must manually set it to the lower-spec'd part or you'll have trouble.

 

[mfenn]

An identical stick is definitely the easiest, but just a caveat to that - if it's hard to find the same model, I would simply recommend going with the same frequency, timings, and voltage. The model and even brand don't matter. I routinely run mixed brands, and even mixed timings/frequencies, but of course if you do the latter, you must manually set it to the lower-spec'd part or you'll have trouble.

Yep. It's hard to find the exact same model being available for a long period of time. If you match up the speed and major timings, you should be OK though.

 

[lucklessgorath]

Correct me if I'm wrong but don't they also have to match same in the number of chips and and match single sided or double sided?

Anyway, Wikipedia also mentions "rows and columns". Whatever that means. At any rate Wikipedia is often known to be wrong. So don't take it as gospel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-channel_memory_architecture

A matching pair needs to match in:

* Capacity (e.g. 1024 MiB). Certain Intel chipsets support different capacity chips in what they call Flex Mode: the capacity that can be matched is run in dual-channel, while the remainder runs in single-channel.

* Speed (e.g. PC5300). If speed is not the same, the lower speed of the two modules will be used. Likewise, the higher latency of the two modules will be used.

* Same CAS Latency (CL) or Column Address Strobe.

* Number of chips and sides (e.g. two sides with four chips on each side).

* Matching size of rows and columns.

 

[mfenn]

Correct me if I'm wrong but don't they also have to match same in the number of chips and and match single sided or double sided?

Anyway, Wikipedia also mentions "rows and columns". Whatever that means. At any rate Wikipedia is often known to be wrong. So don't take it as gospel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-channel_memory_architecture

The closer you get the DIMMs, the better your odds of success are. Most all consumer DDR3 of a given capacity is going to be the same dimensions (logically), so I didn't feed the need to mention that.