Windows 7 - Advice sought - hardware upgrade

G'day,

I've promised myself to keep my new (2 yr old rig) upgraded and not let it slip into obscurity like my previous one.

I've decided to replace my graphics card and RAM as follows, and need some general advice/commentary on them:

RAM
Currently, I have:

4 x Corsair 2GB VS2GB1333D3 1333MHz DDR3 RAM, non-ECC, 240-pin DIMM, CAS 9-9-9-24 = total 8GB

Since I bring lots of work home, I could do with more, faster RAM, and have decided on:

2 x Corsair 8GB CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8 (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz CL8 Unbuffered Venge Memory for AMD, Intel Dual Channel DDR3, 8-8-8-24, 1.5V = total 16GB

I've checked the Gigabyte website to determine the suitability of this RAM for my motherboard (P55A-UDR3), but their list is incomplete and very limited.

Can anyone offer any insights as to how good this RAM is? Is it suitable for my motherboard?

Graphics Card
Currently, I have an NVidia GTS250. It runs perfectly fine, and I will on occasion play BF2. This card meets all my needs, but I want the ability to play soemthing a little bit more graphics strenuous should I choose.

I have 2 choices:

EVGA PCIe GTX550Ti OC 951MHz 1024MB GPU Clk: 951MHz, Shader Clk: 1903MHz

EVGA PCIe GTX560 1024MB GPU Clk: 810MHz, Shader Clk: 1620MHz

I run a dual monitor setup at 1920x1080.

Can anyone offer a comparsion between the two cards? I'm pretty confident both are a step-up from the GTS250.

Thanks,
Golden

the CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8 ram is similar to mine but i have the 1866mhz version. All i will suggest is with asus boards you need to increase the rams voltage from 1.5v to 1.65v to get the ram to run at that speed. as if it not it will only run at 1333mhz.

oddly crucial memory site only has a very short list of RAM. so cant suggest anything there.

You could try a post on the Corsair Forum re suitability/compatibility. I'm not sure that any answer you get would be authoritative, however.

The Corsair Support Forums - Powered by vBulletin

If you are not wedded to Corsair, here is Crucial's list of RAM for your board:

http://www.crucial.com/store/listpar...A-UD3R&Cat=RAM

Crucial shows no 8 GB sticks. I notice that the Crucial stuff varies in voltage from 1.35 to as high as 1.65.

What voltage is your current Corsair?? Generally, I'd try to get something with that same voltage as you already know it will work on your board.

Yeah, those manufacturer qualified RAM lists are near useless because they are always highly incomplete.

I expect any advantage you see from moving from 8 to 16 gigs of RAM will be due to the sheer increase in quantity, as opposed to it being "faster". I don't think "faster" stuff is likely to be a factor other than in a benchmark.

Thanks Ignatz.

My current Corsair is 1.5v according to Speccy. Thats why I opted for Corsair (by the way those are 4GB sticks, not 8GB).

I did a search on the Corsair page, and it came up with this:

http://www2.corsair.com/configurator...spx?id=1106037

Any reason not to go with what the Corsair page said?? CMX16GX3M4A1600C9 Module

They say "Guaranteed-Compatible Memory for your Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3R", for whatever that is worth.


It's DDR3-1600 (XMS3-9-9-9-24*1.5v)

That seems to differ from what you had picked out: CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8. which is CAS 9-9-9-24 also.

Looks like they are very similar, but I'd of course lean toward the one on the Corsair page due to their "guaranteed-compatible" claim.

I think I grabbe the right page for your mobo... Google Translate
It says it supports DDR3-2200MHz RAM. Either the 1600 or the 2200 would give you some noticeable boost, I would pick the fastest I can use. With RAM faster frequencies are as much of a performance kick as a lower CAS. CAS 9 is the most common with these RAM speeds but the higher speed should make up for it.
Corsair is a very good brand, I have some in the wife's PC, Gskill in mine.

I'll be honest, I don't think you will see any performance increase based on your RAM upgrade aside from a benchmarking tool. Going from 8GB to 16GB won't provide much benefit either unless you are doing some high end video editing or running concurrent virtual machines.


With regards to your video card, I just upgraded myself from a 9800GTX+ (which is more or less the same as a GTS250). I went to an Nvidia 570GTX setup. I'm very happy with my upgrade. My performance for BF3 Beta went up substantially and the noise from my box went down. I run a single monitor at 1920x1080. You might want to try to find a 560TI...those are very solid cards as well. It was a close decision between a 560ti and my 570.

This one. Of the two you listed.

The other two pparks pointed out would also be great choices.

Anyway the 560 would be my choice of the two you listed.
Mike

Thanks for the replies fella's.

@Ignatz : I only found the Corsair page after you posted the Crucual page, so yes, I will go with the Corsair page recommendation.

@Britton : Thanks. The 1600 will be a nice boost up from the 1333.

@pparks : Some of the work I do involves simulation. The application I use will use as much RAM as I can throw at it. More RAM allows me to run more of these simulations in the same time. See Problems with RAM?

@pparks and hopper : Thanks for the card recommendations. It looks like its the 560 then.

Thanks again fella's.

Thanks again guys. EVGA NVidia GTX560 and 16GB Corsair Vengeance 1600 RAM Installed