Looks like you are stuck to upgrading RAM, the graphics card or your CPU. I would just wait for the CPU though.
You can try to overclock your 1070 a little if you want. There are some great tutorials around on the internet with thorough instructions. After you get some general knowledge about it, it's really easy. Much easier than I expected in the beginning. As long as your PSU is fine with that, there should be no problems
Like the research article I posted said, RAID is good for benchmarks but doesn't matter in real life performance. A SSD upgrade is a good idea, but please only buy one. Buying two SSDs to run in RAID 0 is insanity, especially when you could likely get 4-5x as much storage on a single SSD with no REAL-LIFE performance difference. P.S. $80 is a lie.
It's not a lie, it's called saving money properly. Also, you're assuming I bought a large sized SSD. SO, it is in fact, not a lie. Is that really true? (It's not btw) Because I've got significant increase in read and write times, thus it brings about better performance times. Tell me how buying two SSD's in a RAID 0 is insanity when it speeds up anything regarding loading data between the SSD. There's endless articles on it. What you're saying makes no sense. Of course a storage device with semiconductors as storage space AKA flash memory is going to be faster than a pile of discs in a casing (hard drive), and if you use RAID, yes of course that will speed it up.
It embarrasses me that you force me to continue this. As I suggested above, a single SSD absolutely is a great upgrade. When you suggested RAID, I was intrigued. I have never heard of RAID with SSDs in a gaming build. So, I researched. And what I found was consistently this: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-raid-benchmark,3485-13.html Also, there are other factors if you read the article. One major point is that if one SSD in a RAID 0 array fails, you lose the whole thing. The writers at Tom's Hardware, who know much more than you and I both, conclude the same thing as me. Go for the single larger SSD. So, I now pose this question to you, the OP, and everyone reading this: Would you rather have a 480GB drive, or a 120GB RAID drive setup maybe 5% faster? 5% is generous, considering Tom's Hardware described the difference as, "marginal at best and not noticeable in practice." I understand that you are really pushing RAID because it works well for you. I respect that. Do you respect me? I am trying to give the OP the best for his money…
You could do a small SSD such as this one for only $60: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F9G414U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_eEnDzbK73RRRP This will be enough to hold Windows and some programs, and it will speed them up immensely. EDIT: reduced pettiness
You rubbed me the wrong way in your first reply, to me it came off a little douchey. No offense, I'm just being honest. I thought you were saying there isn't much of a gain from SSD to HD. When they say "in the real world", I get they mean most situations. However, BeamNG is a application that loads gigs upon gigs into and out of ram, especially during map loading. So, RAID 0 SSD's may only be beneficial in specific jobs such a heavy loads/writes through ram, but this is why I stressed this would increase his performance. Although you will lose both drives on a RAID 0, SSD's have become extremely reliable. I had 2 PNY's for over 2 years now with heavy read and writes, no issues, keep on keepin on.. So, I didn't know that about RAID, and that's my wrong on missing out on that. I respect you, I just didn't feel that from your first reply. But I'm not gonna be a dick and continue to argue a point that we reached on both ends, so I am sorry for that. Shake on it?
Yeah, you're right. That first post was a little douchey. My bad. Something we can agree on for sure is that the SSD(s) will be a great upgrade no matter how he decides to implement it(them). Thank you for being the mature one out of the two of us. Knowing me, this could have kept going forever.
Of course bro. It's okay man, it was douchy of me to overlook the info on RAID, and be adamant on the claim. So, I learned a little something I didn't! And it'll influence my next purchase on upgrades regarding storage, so thanks for opening my eye! Hey, if we can wipe our own ass, we should be able to speak from the ground up yeah? #gg