Help finalise my $8000 WC build !

[IanY]

Its wildly overpriced, but if you want quality and are spending that much anyway, you should look to no less than Plextor for opticals. Be advised that they cost up to four times as much as any other brand. I swear by them.

Another way to waste money is to upgrade that sound card to a 116 db s/n Elite Pro. Its really better than all other X-Fis (which are all 109 db models). That's another $250 of unnecessary expenditure, but the sound output is so incredibly clean and distortion free (even over the other X-Fi models.. and the only one I don't have is a Platinum)

When you remove the Striker's heatpipes, make sure you have something under you to support the heatpipes as you pinch the tabs one by one. The heatpipes are a bit heavy and can put stress on the mobo. Every tab has to be loosened before the heatpipe finally falls off completely. Make sure your mobo doesn't bend. Its a great mobo, but don't rush into the o/c right away. Play with the bios settings one at a time till you find your optimal settings. A single setting can cause your overclock to go haywire.

On the Apogee GTX, make sure you find yourself a good backplate. It makes the bowing all the much better and you will attain a higher overclock and the mounting will be safe. I initially used the ThermalRight, which was OK, till I was given a hint to try the Scythe. The Scythe backplate is fantastic. When you tighten down the GTX, make sure its criss cross and really progressive because if you muck it up, the contact will not be optimal.

Orientation on the GTX shouldn't matter, especially on a Kentsfield, but I'm partial to the inlet being above the outlet. Since you are using a Horizon case, the mobo tray is horizontal to the ground anyway, so it really doesn't matter. If you really want to use stainless steel worm clamps (and I suggest that you do not) be careful about how tight you have them, even on metal barbs. Watch the crimping of the tubes.

Best of luck on your overclock. I'm rooting for you to achieve 4.0 Ghz. I haven't managed to get to 4 Ghz. I'm at 3.8 Ghz and 1.45v (1.5v in bios because of the infamous 680i voltage drop off) and the system serves me well.

I'm a dangerous guy. If you want someone to spend your money, ask me