So I got $90 bucks to spend on my PC...

[ibanezrocker06]

...I was thinking of getting a 2GB ram card, so I'd have a total of 6GB of memory. Right now I have a Phenom II X4 955/MSI 770-C45 mobo/hd 4850/4GB ddr3/antec 650w PSU 1TB HDD and win7 x64.

Would I see any improvement in gaming and multitasking with another 2gigs of memory, or is that just a waste?

I was also thinking of getting an illuminated keyboard but I'm not sure which are the good ones.

Also, how much do you think the 5870 price will come down once Nvidia releases their new line up of DX11 cards?

[ShyguyXPC]

on the 5870, couldn't say until nvidia releases theirs, until we know for sure how much Nvidia's are going to cost, its anybodies guess.

on the RAM, for gaming, not worth it, for multitasking, you'd have to be doing some pretty hefty multi tasking, or running some Major software thats 64-bit compatible to really use that extra RAM...

unless this is an Audio/Video, or Graphics Workstation, I wouldn't waste the money on extra RAM, 4GB is more than enough right now, plus whatever your video cards RAM is.

a keyboard would be nice, but I'm the last person to be giving advice on those, all the ones I want are out of my price range or won't fit on my keyboard shelf.



What do you have as far as Speakers, sound card, or Headset?

there's another option for that $90.

that or a Blu Ray Drive/Reader.

[-FMA]

I second that.

For $90, I would either come up with some more cash or drop down on a peripheral.

You say you want improvement on games, what games are you playing?

-FMA

[pullmyfoot]

save up for a few more months and get a faster graphics card is what I suggest. My system is pretty similar to yours and my next upgrade step would to be swapping out my 4850 for a nice 5850/5870 or whatever NVIDIA can come up with if its worth the money.

[ibanezrocker06]

Well my next upgrade is gonna be the 5870, but not knowing how much the price will drop I'm not sure if I should buy now or later. I did have more than a $90 budget, but I bought myself the G500 mouse and a pair of Koss PortaPros LE.

My games don't need much of an improvement, I can max every game I have except for Crysis, but I certainly want a new graphics card before Crysis 2, but thats not coming out till late this year at the least. I already have speakers, not the best but I like them.

I was also looking at a blu-ray drive but I cant find any with good reviews under 100 bucks.


EDIT: I decided to buy an illuminated keyboard, the Saitek PZ30AUR, the red backlight will look awesome with the black desk and such. Also -> loving the new headphones. If you want a good pair under 50 bucks get the Koss PortaPros 25th Anniversary Edition!

[pullmyfoot]

why dont you get a good cooler and OC your CPU!

[ibanezrocker06]

Ive certainly thought about it. In fact, I already downloaded AMD Overdrive and never even fooled with it yet. I have a Power Master after-market cooler so temps shouldnt be a problem.

[ibanezrocker06]

How would you suggest overclocking it? I cant get Overdrive to do anything. I'm not very expirenced at this either, so doing it in the BIOS kinda frightens me.

[cksboy15]

Well thats the best way to OC in my opinion.

Overclocking options can be found quite easily on an Asus board like mine you can get to it by finding jumper free configuration. When you do find the options then you'll get an option that says something like clock speed and it'll give you a number (usually 200) and tell you minimum 200 max 350. Change the number to a higher one then you overclock (easy) I suggest you take it a little at a time (3-5 steps). Watch the temps and find a stable clock (as in the computer operates smoothly).

[pullmyfoot]

do it in your BIOS. software is always always inferior to a proper BIOS.

Do this exactly. You want the first option on the list, the MTI something something. Dunno what its called. Dont touch any other option except these two: CPU multiplier and CPU core voltage. Those are the only two you will need for this.

Go to the option that says CPU core voltage. That should be exactly 1.35V if you dont touch it. Change it to 1.4V. Your board should give you an option to select +0.05V, so do that. That should stabilize your CPU for any clock speed increases.

then go to the CPU multiplier and change it from X16 to X18. Tada, now your CPU runs at 3.6Ghz. From experience with these things I can tell you that I am 99% sure that that will be stable.

Plus its not anything too heavy that will overload your stock cooler too much.
last step is to run this (prime 95). that stress tests your CPU to check if it runs stable at the new settings. if it finds any errors and fails, come back here. If your computer refuses to load (which I highly doubt), go back to the BIOS and set the multiplier at X17 instead of X18 (giving you 3.4Ghz) and try again.

Free Software - GIMPS

while prime 95 is running, run this to check the temps of your CPU. make sure it does not go above 65. i think it should max out at 50-60 since its not a heavy OC. I know the stock phenom II coolers are quite big too, ive got a few sitting in my room. if it starts to go over 60-65 come back here too.

Download Core Temp 0.99.5.27 - A compact, no fuss, small footprint program that monitors CPU core temperature - Softpedia

with a good cooler, 4Ghz is quite possible on your computer.

[ibanezrocker06]

How much from a performance stand point will I notice with 3.6ghz? Theres a pretty obvious bottleneck with my CPU and my 5870, especially in games like Crysis.