Upgrade advice for my almost 4 yr old gaming PC, please?

[divpers]

Hey folks, thanks ahead! I like to play LotRO and Rift, and I like to use Fraps. Lately my FPS stinks Fraps or no. In LotRO I am often having to raid on low or medium settings. I'd like to play Elder Scrolls online as well, without compromising graphics.

Here is what is in my system, which was assembled and had Win7 installed in Jan 2010, Ive replaced the GPU and added some more memory. Win7 hasn't been reinstalled but I don't know how to do that, lots of data on pc I'd hate to lose over 5 harddrives. Id like to add an SSD for games or OS whichever its better for, or 2 of them if needed. Only have 7200 rpm seagates now. My budget is flexible and Id rather spend less than more, but 600 is perfectly okay, or something around there. Cheaper is better of course, Im value minded. I live in pacific northwest with cheap power, though I buy all wind power so its probably more equivelent to the rest of the country, and like a hot room.

Antec case with 4 noctua fans. I have a liang variable speed pump that was $95 so can wc too but would need blocks etc.

Seasonic X Gold PSU, 610w or 650w? -Dec'09
Gigabyte GA P55-UD4P mobo. -Jan'10
Intel i7 860 @ 2.8ghz -Dec'09
2x2gb Gskill eco ddr3 1600 -Jan'10
2x4gb Gskill ripjaw ddr3 1333 -Apr'12 (upgrade addon)
Sapphire 7950 3gb -Aug'12 (upgraded)


Is my mobo really old and that is what is slowing the pc down? Should I add another 7950 for 200 or whatever to get a good upgrade for not much money? Not sure what to do so your advice is appreciated!

 

[maddogfargo]

A single 7950 is plenty for up to 1080p gaming. And I've had worse FPS slowdowns when using FRAPS with 2 7950's in crossfire. Capture seems to work better with a single card.

That CPU isn't bad either. I don't think that's your problem.

I would look at making sure your drivers were cleanly and completely uninstalled before you upgraded you GPU. Having remnants left behind can sometimes cause performance issues.

I would also look for dust build up or a heat issue. The 7950 runs pretty warm and if your case doesn't have adequate ventilation you could be having trouble with cooling.

 

[divpers]

Hmm, I'll take a look inside. It has a push-pull noctua fan setup on the CPU cooler, then 2 pulls at the back and top of the case, a push from the front of the case, and a 92mm push over the harddrives. There are dust screens on the push/intake fans, yet airflow is still pretty strong, and the house has a hepa air filtration system and there isnt much dust about, but it does still build up in there. I have lots of fans so it has super cooling but not much noise.


Edit - I took a look and dust is very minor, not in the fins of the CPU cooler the GPU, very light covering on blade fans and interior clean.

If its any help the GPU rarely goes above 61c and idles around 46c. The CPU doesnt get hot either, but it has a massive scythe cooler on it.

 

[md1032]

Double check that the correct Intel chipset drivers are installed. Since you are using hard drives, make sure they are running in AHCI or RAID and that the corresponding Intel RST package is installed. If you're running in IDE, you will have to wipe and do a fresh install to convert to AHCI or RAID (which are interchangeable once installed). Also, make sure your hard drive is, in fact, plugged into an Intel SATA port!

I've exlusively used SSD's for a few years now. Once you get one, you can't go back. It is an extremely significant upgrade. A basic 250 GB SSD like a Samsung 840 or Sandisk Ultra Plus would hold most of your stuff, give you a really significant performance boost, and make everything feel much faster without costing an arm and a leg.

I doubt the mobo is holding you back. Modern Intel systems have the memory controller on the CPU, therefore, the motherboard's role is now more passive and down to the storage controller, of which you have a SATA 3 one anyway. Make sure the graphics card is inserted into the x16 slot, and as others have mentioned, check your temperatures.

Also, ensure the latest Radeon drivers are installed, and set everything to the defaults (which should hand over most of the control to the individual programs).

 

[4745454b]

Is the CPU stock? Have you tried OCing it.

If you're running in IDE, you will have to wipe and do a fresh install to convert to AHCI or RAID

Not true. http://tweaks.com/windows/44119/improve-sata-hard-disk-performance-convert-from-ide-to-ahci/

 

[divpers]

I don't know what setting to choose to overclock so I haven't overclocked the CPU, memory, or video card.

Also, I don't know much about raid! I just have the 4 sata drives hooked by the sata cables to the motherboard. Then one of the hard drives has an inner partition for games. That's something I wouldn't mind upgrading. It's my birthday so wife won't gripe. Best upgrade for the money for me would be an SSD?

Using a clean uninstall utility and then a restart has really improved performance!

 

[4745454b]

MMO's usually like CPU power. So a quad at sub 3GHz while great for most games MIGHT be found a bit lacking. I'd try an OCing test and see if things improve. If they do, you found your issue.

SSDs might help as well. More so if you record onto an SSD. I would think your system would be good enough, is your windows clean? No virus or anything?