Maximum PC

Hi! This is my first time building a PC with nvidia cards in it and actually trying to maintain the PC and get the most out of its performance. I'm heavily modding Elder Scrolls Skyrim using 2048 x 2048 textures, SSAO, Super Sampling, etc, so I need this PC to purr like a panther.

So... since I'm not all too familiar with overclocking, and I have another question to ask, I thought I'd come to the best place I know of suited to answer... maximumpc.

I'll give you my PC Specs up front for reference:
2x Nvidia 560 TI (Frozr)
3.4ghtz Intel Sandy-Bridge (OC'd to 3.6 most of the time, 4.0 while playing Skyrim)
4x4gb RAM (16gb total) 1600 mhtz (Vengeance Corsair)
850w PSU (Corsair)
2TB Hitachi 7200rpm
1TB WD 7200rpm
6 fans, hooked up to the NZXT phantom, awesome wiring using the back space, and fan controllers maxed...

First question:
Since the two GFX cards are on SLI, I am totally confused as to which display port I am supposed to use? I want to use the HDMI mini port, which I do have an adapter for, but the adapter is flimsy and bends easily. I would rather just use DVI with an HDMI connector.... HOWEVER, whenever the PC first boots up, the BIOS and all of the other stuff isn't displayed. The display doesn't kick on until windows has been loaded? Is there anyway to change the boot-display? What display port should I use? I essentially have something like this:

Card 1: [DVI] [DVI] [HDMI]
Card 2: [DVI] [DVI] [HDMI]

Now that that is out of the way... my overclocking question. As I said, I'm trying to run Skyrim with a lot of epic enhancements. I've already enabled SSAO, supersampling, etc using Nvidia Inspector, but I find that Skyrim lags, particularly when loading new areas (the textures I reckon). When I turn off Supersampling or SSAO (ambient occlusion), the framerate drops completely disappear and the game runs on a smooth 40fps or MORE. I KNOW that two 560's on SLI should be able to handle skyrim with these settings, no friggen problem, so why am I getting this?

I guess my question is, how can I push these cards to do better. I clocked them up to 1000 MHz core, 2000 MHz shader, and 2250 Memory (around 36-45C stable), but that only partially weakens the frame drops to a bearable level. I want to play the game at a relatively smooth pace, with no sputtering or interruptions, and I built this PC to do just that.

Third question, in terms of SLI settings, what should be my dedicated processor?

Lastly, what OC program is best? For my nvidia cards I've been trying out MSI Afterburner and Nvidia Inspectory. For processor I use ASRock eXtreme Tuner.

Help and suggestions are both appreciated

Let's start with the 1st part first. What are you listing in the "DVI/DVI/HDMI" part? Is that the available ports on every 560Ti, or are those ports you are connected to and are running 6 screens in SLI? No, of course not! If you have one screen then you put on the SLI connector on the cards, hook the output to the card closest to the CPU, and that's the normal config. However...

[short rant] This has been a bain of my nVidia existence really. I love my multiscreen loven and it farts on itself on reboot quite a bit. On boot, it loads the two side screens, the center is dead, and it takes some rock/paper/scissors to get them all back to their proper configuration. Seriously! I can change nothing after 10 reboots, but the 11th just comes up with all 3 working fine. And they say ATI drivers suck? That's so 2001...

I've gotten over want and need with nVidia. However, I know for a fact that two 560Ti's will see the DVI ports 100% while the mini HDMI is iffy. If you want HDMI to the display and utilize the DVI's and see the full boot, then you can go to the egg and get a 10' DVI out/HDMI in cable for about $10. The DVI goes to the card, the other end is HDMI and plugs into the display. HDMI seems simple, but it's useless unless you want sound to the monitor too (which this cable does as well...magically; I'll just leave it at that for now).

That's Help me Build/Buy stuff. We're onto overclocking. However, I think you're barking up the wrong tree.

Snark, but Skyrim isn't the graphical beast it's made out to be. Does it look better than the last one? Yup! But that's just because they got up to date and some characters don't look like freaking Shrek. If you're lagging, it's not your video card or your CPU. Don't blame the build so quick. You can overclock any part in that box all you want and it ain't getting any more pretty than any game I've seen in the last 8 years (Looks just like Thief2 IMO, but with less time involved...the new WOW!). If you can get the game to run at 40fps, you're fine. If you want 100fps, you're just barking up the tree that FPS fanatics have already pee'd upon for decades now. 40fps is fast enough for wandering games such as this.

Or, pay $3,000 on two 560x2's and get one billion frames a second for the same graphical affects. /me shrugs. It's the game design that makes it not pretty, not your dual 560's. Seriously...single up one 560Ti and take a look. It's the same freaking game.

Thanks for the info. Although, the game is actually quite good A lot of PC elitists want to think it makes no changes to the previous and what-not, but I think they just undermine it because of the console preference Bethesda has taken. By this time next year, it will have enough mods to turn it into whatever elitists want it to be... so that's my rant. Also, the texture mods people have added to the modding community improve the looks quite a bit, so it may "on face" just be a medium graphical improvement, but when you delve into the community around the game, you can turn it up to Crysis mirroring levels The only thing I hate is the dynamic shadows... they aren't high res enough, too pixelated.

And you are probably right about the frame rates... still, I'm irritated that I cant get over a consistent 25-30fps, and that I get 5-10fps drops when loading new areas. Hopefully patches will improve loading and stability, because this is just annoying.