[Folex]

Start using Ramdisk and you'll see the need for 64+ gigs of ram. You can load stuff up to 4x faster then the fastest SSD in Raid-0. 
 

 

[elmoe]

Well I only have 1 humble Samsung EVO SSD and it already loads things so fast I don't really see the need for anything faster to be honest. What kind of operation do you do that needs 6 TB/s bandwidth??

 

[Folex]

1. Tech support running multi VM with different OS' (4 second load times)
2. Massive Video/Graphic Renders
3. Putting your cache to Ramdisk
4. Data Security (Able to do whatever you want and having it untraceable when you log off)
5. Loading City Maps
6. Video game production (Saves massive time loading up the game over and over)
 
Just to name a few.

 

[Smugsie]

  wow those voltages are pretty high, not worried about shortening the life of your cpu?

Not at all, for a few factors.
a) The 8350 has 8 cores, more cores than most programs use, if one core dies, I'll just disable that core and overclock
b) I replace my CPU every 2-5 years. My next upgrade would be along the lines of Intel if this CPU dies before AMD doesn't get their schiit together and deliver another good AM3+ CPU
c) At stock clock which is 4.0ghz, the voltage is 1.31v. I was surprised I didn't need to bump the voltage up too much.
d) The only pieces of technology I want lasting is my watch, phone, and headphones/mics/dac/amps.

P.S. I found out Core Temp is measuring my North Bridge.. I used one of them laser temp measuring guns and pointed it my water block. Max temps are 55 degrees, 12-15 degrees idle with 4.8ghz settings...

 

[iAmCodeMonkey]

Here is mine: http://www.overclock.net/lists/display/view/id/5656689/version/5656691
 

 

 
My study looks a bit more organized than in the photos above now. And yes, my PC really IS that big.

 

[stuartfang]

My newest desktop!!

C2D, 8GB ram, 120GB SSD, 9400M

 

[drez]

 

[Bemopti123]

To all the computer experts right here, I have some questions.  I have a Velocity Micro gaming PC that I spend top $$$ back in 2009 and I believe it is time to upgrade.  It has an Intel® Desktop Board DX58SO as well an I7 2.66 hz chip, 3 GB triple channel DDR3 1600 memory and a more than decent PS.  It has terrible Vista on it. 
 
So, I have decided that the first thing to upgrade was the OS.  I got an Windows 8 disk on the way and later, I have decided to get more memory.
 
and this is where I am getting confused.  I have triple channel, I pretty much think it must be replaced. The maximum capacity of the MB is 16 gb.  So, will 16 GB in dual modules, I think they are dual channel memories be compatible with my MB?
 
Moreover, I believe that I will also need to replace my outdated geForce GTX260 for something more 2014.  I am looking at some cards like the GTX 660 series.  The question I have is whether my MB will be able to handle such graphics card satisfactorily. 
 
I would like to get some pointers of what to replace.  I really do not want to spend $1000 or something to upgrade it.  The HDD that I have there is a Velociraptor at just around 120 GB capacity as well as a Hitachi 500 GB HDD.  I do not use this computer regularly because I use other 2 Apple laptops.  I am thinking about upgrading this game setup to use it for occasional games and some work. 
 
Thanks for any advice. 
 
Paul from NYC.

 

[Folex]

  To all the computer experts right here, I have some questions.  I have a Velocity Micro gaming PC that I spend top $$$ back in 2009 and I believe it is time to upgrade.  It has an Intel® Desktop Board DX58SO as well an I7 2.66 hz chip, 3 GB triple channel DDR3 1600 memory and a more than decent PS.  It has terrible Vista on it. 
 
So, I have decided that the first thing to upgrade was the OS.  I got an Windows 8 disk on the way and later, I have decided to get more memory.
 
and this is where I am getting confused.  I have triple channel, I pretty much think it must be replaced. The maximum capacity of the MB is 16 gb.  So, will 16 GB in dual modules, I think they are dual channel memories be compatible with my MB?
 
Moreover, I believe that I will also need to replace my outdated geForce GTX260 for something more 2014.  I am looking at some cards like the GTX 660 series.  The question I have is whether my MB will be able to handle such graphics card satisfactorily. 
 
I would like to get some pointers of what to replace.  I really do not want to spend $1000 or something to upgrade it.  The HDD that I have there is a Velociraptor at just around 120 GB capacity as well as a Hitachi 500 GB HDD.  I do not use this computer regularly because I use other 2 Apple laptops.  I am thinking about upgrading this game setup to use it for occasional games and some work. 
 
Thanks for any advice. 
 
Paul from NYC.

What are you trying to do? I got half of that system and I'm able to do everything outside of speedy video editing. It sounds like you're bored and want to buy something that you hope will entertain you.  A 2.66 i7 will be fast enough to run any audio application or play any game for the next 3 years. Unless your running a server, VM or plan to use ram disk then 8 gigs of ram is more then enough. The speed of ram is a marketing scam unless you are using a high end intragrated GPU.  Your graphic card I could see upgrading for maybe $300 and you might see a difference if you need the absolute highest settings on every game. A 240 gig SSD is a must for a "gaming" laptop. Which is enough to run an OS and maybe 3 games. The SSD I'm almost certain is the current bottleneck of the computer. Depending on what you have for audio that might be a good upgrade. I currently have a pair of Rokit 8 speakers and Modded pair of Beyer 990's with an attached microphone. They both drastically improve my gaming experience. 

 

[Bemopti123]

Folex, thanks for the answers.  The fact is that I want to upgrade this machine because I want to play some of the more modern games without getting into getting the latest consoles from SONY or Microsoft.  The vista that I originally got with it was absolutely a hog.  Now, even thought the comp has few programs to load up the HDD, it barely loads properly, getting stuck in many common procedures such as browsing and the like.  I decided that the 3 GB of memory is one of the problems as well as the OS.  So, first I will do a fresh upload of from Vista to Windows 8.  Perhaps I should wait and see how the computer works after that.  I think the graphics card I have is a bottleneck. 
 
No, I will mostly use the computer for some gaming and light work where the Apples have issues in some websites.  Most of my music files and photos are in my 2009 MBP. 
 
My computer is a desktop. 
 
Paul from NYC. 

 

[kraken2109]

  To all the computer experts right here, I have some questions.  I have a Velocity Micro gaming PC that I spend top $$$ back in 2009 and I believe it is time to upgrade.  It has an Intel® Desktop Board DX58SO as well an I7 2.66 hz chip, 3 GB triple channel DDR3 1600 memory and a more than decent PS.  It has terrible Vista on it. 
 
So, I have decided that the first thing to upgrade was the OS.  I got an Windows 8 disk on the way and later, I have decided to get more memory.
 
and this is where I am getting confused.  I have triple channel, I pretty much think it must be replaced. The maximum capacity of the MB is 16 gb.  So, will 16 GB in dual modules, I think they are dual channel memories be compatible with my MB?
 
Moreover, I believe that I will also need to replace my outdated geForce GTX260 for something more 2014.  I am looking at some cards like the GTX 660 series.  The question I have is whether my MB will be able to handle such graphics card satisfactorily. 
 
I would like to get some pointers of what to replace.  I really do not want to spend $1000 or something to upgrade it.  The HDD that I have there is a Velociraptor at just around 120 GB capacity as well as a Hitachi 500 GB HDD.  I do not use this computer regularly because I use other 2 Apple laptops.  I am thinking about upgrading this game setup to use it for occasional games and some work. 
 
Thanks for any advice. 
 
Paul from NYC.

Get 3 4GB ram sticks so you'll have 12GB in triple channel.
GTX660 is a good option and offers double the performance of the GTX260.
I'd be tempted to buy an aftermarket CPU cooler and overclock your CPU, you'll get more performance for very little money that way.

 

[w3ird0l0l]

 
my humble computer rig. IFI DAC, IFI USB using a creative t3. 

 

[MooTaters]

Quote:

  Folex, thanks for the answers.  The fact is that I want to upgrade this machine because I want to play some of the more modern games without getting into getting the latest consoles from SONY or Microsoft.  The vista that I originally got with it was absolutely a hog.  Now, even thought the comp has few programs to load up the HDD, it barely loads properly, getting stuck in many common procedures such as browsing and the like.  I decided that the 3 GB of memory is one of the problems as well as the OS.  So, first I will do a fresh upload of from Vista to Windows 8.  Perhaps I should wait and see how the computer works after that.  I think the graphics card I have is a bottleneck. 
 
No, I will mostly use the computer for some gaming and light work where the Apples have issues in some websites.  Most of my music files and photos are in my 2009 MBP. 
 
My computer is a desktop. 
 
Paul from NYC. 

 
I'd agree with getting more ram and upgrading your OS, windows 8 shouldn't be nearly as much of a hog.  Look into a triple channel kit of memory somewhere around 8GB, you probably won't use that much, but it's nice to have extra and not have to worry(12GB, as suggested, won't hurt).  Also stick to around 1600MHz ram, as said iGPU's generally are the area where faster ram improves things a lot as the iGPU shares ram with the CPU.  That's not the only area where faster ram can help, some applications might take advantage of it, but not for the average user/pc gamer.  You also often have higher timings on higher clocked memory.
 
An SSD may help with the hard drive issue, but it's not that huge of a bottleneck.  If you haven't reinstalled vista since you bought it, that could actually improve things more than you might think, I had windows 7 for maybe 2-3 years(without reinstall), and a reinstall made an easily noticeable difference to boot time for me.  You'll generally only notice big improvements on loading times of programs, or game maps, and of course boot time.  That said most SSD owners will say it's tough to go back after you've lived with one, as they still are far faster than HDD's(don't expect improved FPS though).  Windows 8.1(64 bit)'s requires 20GB, and maybe a bit more with future updates, with that much I imagine unless you're playing a lot of games which require lots of space you could easily fit more than 3 games on a 250GB SSD.
 
To be honest depending on the game, your CPU may be more of a bottleneck than you think.  That said Direct X 12 should bring out some improvements which take a lot of load off of the CPU.  Nvidia has said they'll support DX 12 on all Fermi, Kepler, and Maxwell(just recently started being released) based GPU's.  Which means most GTX 400, 600 series cards will be supported, along with all(currently released) GTX 700 series cards.  AMD will support DX12 on all GCN architecture, just about if not all of AMD's newest cards, the R7/R9 series cards should be GCN, along with some off the 7k series if I'm not mistaken(Don't know off the top of my head).  Depending on how much you can afford I'd say at tops go for a GTX760 or 770 if you can(it's basically a 680 with faster vram), at lowest a 750Ti, don't let the numbers fool you though, the 660 would generally be better than a 750ti.  The 750ti will be better for a low power PC, or smaller case.
 
 
Edit: We may have a better idea if we knew what games you were looking forward to.  If it were Titanfall, that game easily played on my old rig during the beta(GTX 460SE, 4gb DDR2 800, and a Core 2 Duo E8400 at 3.6GHz), but I imagine you have more than one title in mind.  Also Generally stay away from the 4GB video cards, it's just a waste of cash, the general rule to VRAM is 1GB per 128-bit of memory interface(though VRAM speed does play somewhat of a role).

 

[VXAce]

WC isn't 100% need for open headphones. Just need to plan and build carefully.

 

[Smugsie]

While we're on the topic of general rigs.

AMD GET YOUR SCHIIT TOGETHER! I'm stuck with an 8350 and intel is just zipping by...
I'm stuck with a crosshair formula-z, and for the amount of money for that motherboard, there's no way I'm converting to intel.