Hi all
My current system: ASUS P6T mobo, i7-920 running at stock 2.66GHz, 3 x 2GB Corsair XMS3 1600MHz, NVIDIA 9800GT. Velociraptor 150GB as boot drive, and a slow 500GB data drive.
I'm not looking to do anything really challenging with this PC - I'm not a gamer, though I do a fair bit of photo editing. My aim when I designed this eight years ago was to put together a system that would remain usable for as long as possible.
It's starting to feel a little less nippy than it used to, especially post Windows 10, and I'm wondering if it's time to upgrade a little. Am I right in thinking that, in terms of what's going to make it feel a bit sharper, in order of effectiveness:
1) relegate the velociraptor to data duties and get a SSD
2) more RAM - maybe a second set of three 2GB sticks, also at 1600MHz
3) actually replace with faster RAM - so perhaps 3 x 4GB 1833MHz
4) upgrade to a faster i7, or instead overclock the existing 920.
If I do 1), I guess I'm looking at SATA III, even though my mobo will downrate that to SATA II.Given those limitations is there much point in spending on the best SSD out there, or am I looking at cheaper drives such as WD Blue?
If 2), I guess I should simply buy exactly the same model.
If 3) is worth it, should I be aiming for 2000MHz (not at all sure if my mobo can use that) or is 1833MHz what I'm looking for?
If 4), do I need to start thinking about upgrading cooling? I have stock i7 cooling at the moment. I see used i7 950 chips for ~£50... any higher than that gets silly expensive.
Thanks for any advice.
My current system: ASUS P6T mobo, i7-920 running at stock 2.66GHz, 3 x 2GB Corsair XMS3 1600MHz, NVIDIA 9800GT. Velociraptor 150GB as boot drive, and a slow 500GB data drive.
I'm not looking to do anything really challenging with this PC - I'm not a gamer, though I do a fair bit of photo editing. My aim when I designed this eight years ago was to put together a system that would remain usable for as long as possible.
It's starting to feel a little less nippy than it used to, especially post Windows 10, and I'm wondering if it's time to upgrade a little. Am I right in thinking that, in terms of what's going to make it feel a bit sharper, in order of effectiveness:
1) relegate the velociraptor to data duties and get a SSD
2) more RAM - maybe a second set of three 2GB sticks, also at 1600MHz
3) actually replace with faster RAM - so perhaps 3 x 4GB 1833MHz
4) upgrade to a faster i7, or instead overclock the existing 920.
If I do 1), I guess I'm looking at SATA III, even though my mobo will downrate that to SATA II.Given those limitations is there much point in spending on the best SSD out there, or am I looking at cheaper drives such as WD Blue?
If 2), I guess I should simply buy exactly the same model.
If 3) is worth it, should I be aiming for 2000MHz (not at all sure if my mobo can use that) or is 1833MHz what I'm looking for?
If 4), do I need to start thinking about upgrading cooling? I have stock i7 cooling at the moment. I see used i7 950 chips for ~£50... any higher than that gets silly expensive.
Thanks for any advice.