Graphics card / RAM upgrade advice sought.

Brando_ie

Hi folks. I previously sought some great advice from boards when initially building my rig so I'm back cap in hand now the inevitable upgrade time has arrived. I'll cut to the chase

Summary
Operating System - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU - Intel Core i7 920 @ 2.67GHz
RAM - 6.00 GB Triple-Channel DDR3 @ 532MHz (8-8-8-20)
Motherboard - Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. EX58-UD3R (Socket 1366)
Graphics - Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 1GB GDDR5 (2xDVI-I, HDMI,)
Monitors <1> LG W2361 (1920x1080@60Hz) (DVI-I)
<2> LG M237WD (1920x1080@60Hz) (DVI-I)
Possible > Samsung 32" HD TV (HDMI)
PSU - Corsair HX 650W PSU ATX 12V V2.2,
Cooling - Noctua NH-U12P SE2 CPU Cooler

I have two quick questions:

1) Is my RAM configured correctly? Its running at 532MHz and I would like an opinion as to if that seems correct? The actual spec of the RAM is thus: Corsair Dominator DHX+ DDR3 1600MHz 6GB Kit w/3x 2GB XMS3 modules, CL8-8-8-24, for Core i7.

I investigated a RAM upgrade and arrived at the Corsair site which scanned my rig and recommended either a 2GB piece for my empty slot (no link) or an 8GB (although bizarrely it linked to a 2x4GB kit which is clearly not correct). I was under the impression that all the sticks needed to be identical, which presents a problem as I can't source a Dominator DHX+ 2GB stick (any links to compatible 2GB RAM would be well appreciated). Do I have any cheap / simple upgrade option or would I have to replace the 3x2GB with a whole new set of say 8 or 12GB??

2) What graphics card upgrade should I opt for? I'm limited to Amazon.co.uk as I have around £200 in credit there. I'll put a few extra bob into the mix but need to be Ca £250. Any money saved would be put towards a decent keyboard / mouse bundle as that needs an upgrade also.

A few links to some cards already sourced follows:

Sapphire HD7950 3GB Vapox-X
In stock - £236

XFX Radeon HD 7950 DD Edition
In stock - £174 (Down from £221, but I wonder why so much cheaper than above??)

Sapphire R9 280X 3GB Toxic
Not in stock for 5 - 7 weeks but if recommended I can keep an eye open for the 280X - £268 (down from £549)

EVGA Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 Superclocked 2GB
In Stock - £273 (down from £406) The GTX 770 was recommended by the October Tom's hardware GPU thing although this is the 2GB version?

Naturally any ATI goodies (BF4 or never settle) would be welcome and I need to be certain my PSU will handle the new load (the 280x indicates a 750 watt load which is no good but the 7950's are 500 watt and I thought they were essentially the same GPU?)

Usage for rig: Always dual monitor but I never dual screen games, CS6 and video editing, 3D modelling. Possibly use the 32" HDTV as an output for netflix etc but infrequent.

Any advice on the RAM and/or Graphics card upgrades would be very much appreciated.

Brando_ie

bump for the weekday boards folks.

Moon54

2) On the GPU side, fyi, that XFX is actually a bit cheaper than that,
but you might have to wait a few weeks for Amazon's stock to get replenished.
(look on the right-hand side under 'More Buying Choices' for Amazon link)

If you are willing to go that bit more, the Sapphire 280x is the way to go.
It's worth keeping an eye on this page for stock levels, relative pricing & price-drops in the 280x range;
http://uk.camelcamelcamel.com/search?sq=Sapphire+R9+280x
But right now stock levels are at zero for most of them.

(TIP: Always buy from Amazon themselves rather than 3rd party Marketplace seller)

TerrorFirmer

I had a hilarious goof recently where my bios was, for reasons unknown, setting my ram to a really low speed, which led to crippling bad games performance, once I manually set the timings, voltage and speed, it improved dramatically.

CPU wise you're fine, bit of overclocking wouldn't go amiss those, to keep it up to date with the latest intensive games.

But really, all you need is a GPU upgrade.

With regards the 280x needing 750w, absolute nonsense, your 650w corsair will power everything bar the most extreme of wallet decimating, high end enthusiast cards.

Brando_ie

Thanks Moon and TerrorFirmer

That camel site looks well handy and I'll keep an eye open for the 280x.

The PSU quandry is quite an odd one, what seems clear from HWCompare is the 280x will draw another 142 watts which I would have felt was reasonable for my 650 Corsair to handle but it is great to get another opinion on it all the same.

TerrorFirmer, in light of your RAM timings experience, would you have an opinion on my RAM. Does my clocked speed seem like it is correct, the timings currently are 8-8-8-20 and the RAM is rated for 8-8-8-24 but I don't know if that is a MOBO limitation or something I did incorrectly (and if at my end, how to remedy same?)

If anyone has anything else to add to the GPU debate or indeed my RAM upgrade / clock speed from point 1 I would be greatful for any additional input.

Thanks again

Agricola

The 532mhz figure you're seeing has to be doubled to get the actual frequency, because this is DDR ram (2 data transfers per clock cycle)
So your ram is running at 1064mhz. This is because a Core i7 runs DDR3 ram at that speed, no matter what the memory's rated speed is. To bring the memory up to 1600mhz you need to adjust a setting in the bios. On my Asus board, theres a preset overclock which does this, you'll have to check your own to make sure.

Brando_ie

Just an update:

As advised I went for the R9 280x which arrived yesterday. I decided to grab another 2GB stick of RAM to bring me up to 8 for the rig whilst I was at it. The only thing left to do now is grab a Displayport to DVI adaptor to allow me to use the TV in the screen cluster but apart from that the rig is purring along nicely now.

Thanks for the help folks.