So... what next?

[OC-Guru]

Hi guys

If you've seen my previous post, you'll know I built a 2013 AMD Gaming Rig which packs an 1100T, 16GB RAM and a Radeon HD 7850.

I was wondering.. I get paid on the 24th of this month and I was thinking about throwing some more money into this computer. I've got £400-500 to spend.

Things I've thought about buying:
- A better PSU
- 2 27inch ASUS Monitors
- Another Gigabyte HD7850
- A better mouse / keyboard

Specs I haven't listed in my rig:
I got a Antec Kuhler H20 920 and a Dell Perc5i RAID card with 2x Maxtor Atlas V 10k RPM 146GB HDDs attached in RAID 0

Here's my current desk setup incase any of you guys have any ideas for improvements:

(Sorry for the bad quality)

[radish]

i would for go all that other junk, this image looks like you need to upgrade your dr.pepper bottle. its looking like its running low.

[YukonTrooper]

Firstly, a widescreen monitor (it's 2013, man!).

Your 60GB Agility is in the same rig as the 10k drives in RAID 0? There's no reason to have 10k RAID 0 drives for storage, if that's what you're using them for. In fact, I don't think there's really any reason to have 10k drives in RAID 0 at all in 2013, unless you're benchmarking. I'd pick up a 120-240GB SSD for OS/games/apps and a regular HDD for storage.

Your mouse looks like it's ready to take off and abduct somebody.

[Bond007]

I vote for a new monitor. Personally I like 23-24", but its your call. And a 240-260gb ssd.

[OC-Guru]

Originally Posted by radish

i would for go all that other junk, this image looks like you need to upgrade your dr.pepper bottle. its looking like its running low.

What other junk?
Also, about the Dr.Pepper bottle, it was full but is now empty.

Originally Posted by YukonTrooper

Firstly, a widescreen monitor (it's 2013, man!).

Your 60GB Agility is in the same rig as the 10k drives in RAID 0? There's no reason to have 10k RAID 0 drives for storage, if that's what you're using them for. In fact, I don't think there's really any reason to have 10k drives in RAID 0 at all in 2013, unless you're benchmarking. I'd pick up a 120-240GB SSD for OS/games/apps and a regular HDD for storage.

Your mouse looks like it's ready to take off and abduct somebody.

Yes, I use my 2x Atlas V 10k's for Game storage.. i run my games from these beasts, minimal lag, maximum throughput.. I have the Agility 3 as my OS/Application drive and I have a 1.3TB (3x500GB) File/WDS server that I use for storage (1Gbps LAN connected)

Haha, I've had a few comments on my Saitek GM-3200.

Originally Posted by Bond007

I vote for a new monitor. Personally I like 23-24", but its your call. And a 240-260gb ssd.

I'm thinking of getting 2 27" ASUS LED 1080p monitors.. but I will also consider getting a 240GB SSD :)

Thanks for the positive feedback,
OC-Guru

[AkG]

You have a nice setup. Congrats.
For improvements....
Drop the RAID'ed hdds and go for a PCI-E ssd. Biggest improvement to game load times you will find. Hell even a Sata SSD will kick the crap out of those Atlas hdds.
Get a bigger - and better - SSD for your OS.
Drop another GPU in their and make it fly for games. This is almost a requirement IF you plan on going for dual 27' monitors. ;)

And yeah that mouse would worry me....Id be afraid I would wake up one night with it looming over me...trying to probe me :P

[OC-Guru]

Originally Posted by AkG

You have a nice setup. Congrats.
For improvements....
Drop the RAID'ed hdds and go for a PCI-E ssd. Biggest improvement to game load times you will find. Hell even a Sata SSD will kick the crap out of those Atlas hdds.
Get a bigger - and better - SSD for your OS.
Drop another GPU in their and make it fly for games. This is almost a requirement IF you plan on going for dual 27' monitors. ;)

And yeah that mouse would worry me....Id be afraid I would wake up one night with it looming over me...trying to probe me :P

Thanks for the feedback again mate :)

I will invest in a SATA SSD or a PCI-E SSD then, this will be something I buy next month due to my Atlas' providing more than enough throughput for the current games I play (Battlefield 3, GTA IV, Diablo 3, Far cry 3) I want to get the monitor/s in 1st, whether I buy one or two, I am not too sure yet.. I can afford 2, but my 7850 has DVI, HDMI, DP, DP.. which is rather annoying as the 27" uses DVI/VGA..

Well, with 2GB Vram, I should be set as I won't be running my games across both screens anyway..

So this is the order I will buy the stuff you guys recommend:
1 27" Monitor > next month > another monitor + SSD > month after > PSU / Another 7850

on a side note: Wouldn't my 1100T bottleneck my 2 7850's? because as it stands, I don't think I have a bottleneck.. and I would like to keep it that way

As for the mouse: I need it.. I have big hands lol

[nasrott]

mouse grab a rat7 albino there nice, I have a couple 27" asus monitors now running on 1-7970 though my onboard gpu on my cpu is running one of them. Have run both on the 7970 prior to this new cpu/board I just bought.

As far as your drives is just much neater to have a decent size ssd doing games, apps and OS. Then a single 2-3 tb drive for storage. I run 2 ocz ssd's in raid0. Your chipset on your rig don't play nice with raid on ssd and trim so...

Maybe consider a new card versus another 7850 prices been dropping on the 7970's, your monitors and a new mouse, possibly a big ssd as others mentioned, 240 or better idea.

[Luay79]

I would do it differently. Throw away your GF's GTs 450 and put the HD 7850 in there. get your self a HD 7970.

[Perineum]

Your system is definitely nice enough as is, the best performance increase at this point would be a SSD