Tiramisu, I have a few questions.
#1 Did you take off any of the mobo cooling sinks/pipes and clean up the goop and reapply?
#1a Are you using any aftermarket HS/F's on the chipset or mosfets?
#2 Was there any problems or mods you needed to perform for the backplate to mount properly with that Extreme?
#3 Any idea what kind of power draw you have when the cpu is under load at those speeds?
Thanks for your time.
Ans #1: Nope, it's not necessary. This time, Asus has done a great job for cooling the P5K-Deluxe chipset using heatpipe based configuration to cool both the chipset and mosfets. The stock thermal pads were stuck on really good and all heatsinks on board are only warm to touch even stressed at its max 1.7v / 1.5v NB and FSB respectively. The stock heatpipe based cools the chipset and mosfets adequately so there's no need to take them apart like in the past with P5B-Dlx or P5W-DH, etc.
Ans #2/3: I bought the TR U120 X a while back when NCIX got a new shipment from them. The heatsink's base was extremely convex, hence relatively poor heat dispensing capability with my previous lapped golden E6700. I DID NOT even need to both modifying the backplate like you've seen from some people who did the "penny mod or watever" becouse the heatsink sits VERY FIRM and snuggly on top of the IHS when all 4 bolts are bolted down. I did however took off the thin "X" shape clear plastic piece and the "[ ]" square sticky film off the back plate becouse THAT IS WHAT causing the backplate not sticking in to the 4 LGA775 mobo holes all the way in. They're blocking the backplate and thus maybe that's why some people can't tightly secure the heatsink and need to modify the secure bracket or whatever. Sorry it's really hard to describe but I hope you can get the picture
Ans #4: No idea but I'm using Corsair HX620w and that's proven to be the BEST PSU in the 600W+ category. It's being proven by numerous PSU pro testers with a meter to see its ripple / load, 12v, 5v etc underload. I wouldn't worry about the PSU but it's definetely recommand to get some quality 500w+ PSU for Q6600 + 8800GTS for example.
Yes, he's running at fairly relaxed memory speeds considering the sticks he's using. This is probably for one of two reasons:
1. Testing out the OC at low memory speeds to find the max CPU overclock, and then incrementally bumping the memory up once you find the CPU's limit. This is good practice in general.
2. The second would be if he was running 4x1GB sticks; this makes it harder to OC the memory. However, he only has 2 gigs, so I dunno.
Yes, your assumptions are right BUT I already know what my Ballistix Tracers 8500 can do if you see my first post in the first page. It's exactly the same ram kit as in my previous xtreme OC'ed E6700 at low volts on air.
I do actually have a second set of ballistix tracers 8500 in hand right now to make up a total of 4x1gb configuration for my Vista x64. But worry about that later...