Where's my bottleneck?

[Wiluven]

Before I go into it - I made this post concerning low 3dmark scores.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/270222-33-3dmark-vantage-scores

So I guess my question to you all is if you had the same components and are an overclock noob (but not scared and not a computer noob by any means) - what would be your thoughts/steps to get this system running stabile but faster? Where is my bottleneck?

System Components:
Asus P5Q-Pro - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299
Intel Q6600 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017
ATI Radeon 4870 X2
4 GB Mushkin DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731
2x 75 gig Raptor drives (raid)
850 Watt Antec Power Supply (Truepower Quattro)
Coolermaster RC-690 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137
Vista Ultimate 64

Here's my thoughts - any advice would be appreciated.

1.) Buy an aftermarket CPU cooler. Advice on which one?
2.) Overclock my Q6600 to 3Ghz - will do more research but found this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kf_hSIpa0A
3.) Replace or overclock my Mushkin memory. When I purchased it, I seem to remember on this forum telling me not to bother with higher clocking memory as this was the memory to buy as it's easy to overclock.

 

[MaDMagik]

I agree with the guy from your other thread that stock q6600 is bottlenecking your gfx card. I dont agree on the memory part though, I say youre perfectly fine with ddr2 800, especially with 5-4-4-12 timings. OCing your cpu to 3ghz(or more if you feel like it ) is definately a way to go, and you have a great board for that.

As for aftermarket cooler i would suggest XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 or Sunbeam Core-Contact Freezer, but provided your case has good airflow(and i suspect it does - looks great btw) I would give it a try even on stock cooler, you just have keep an eye on the temperatures. This guide http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/240001-11-howto-overclock-quads-duals-guide is a very good place to get all essential info you need to get started, and if you need any help just ask...

 

[JofaMang]

My 4870x2 didn't start hitting it's stride until I got my PhII 710 x3 past 3.2ghz. Before that, all my games were CPU limited, with my graphics card getting an easy ride, heh.

 

[Wiluven]

Good information guys. I just got my Mugen 2 in the mail today and finished installing it. Overclocked my Q6600 by raising the FSB Frequency to 333 to give me 3ghz for now. This alone raised my 3dmark score over 2000 points.

After running 3dmark - my temp peaks at 59 degree's on core 0 (lower on others)

Next step is to figure out how I can go to 3.2 or 3.4 as I'll need to change more than just the FSB Frequency.