The Mighty Fujimoto X2 is now running at a healthy clip of 2.91GHz on air. Outstanding. I have enough voltage to probably squeeze a tad more but we're running at 1.45 now. Sure, I know it'll take more but on air you have to be super careful with these things unless you're trying to burn a hole in your motherboard - and since these babies top out just north of 3.0 you tell me if it's worth it to snag a water rig or peltier cooler for another 100MHz?

NOT. I am enjoying CPU idle temps of 31-33c and load temps of about 47-49c with ambient room temperature of 75F. Not bad. Not bad at all.

On a related note for all you 8800GT owners out there, if you are tired of listening to the rocketship that is the stock fan on your card snag a Thermaltake DuOrb. They WORK. Yea, I know there's at least one competing cooler out there that achieves *slightly* better temps (Zalman VF1000) but it's thick as a brick and doesn't look nearly as cool.

I am seeing idle temps on the GPU 20c cooler right out of the box. In fact load temps max out at 47c in a room with ambient temperature of about 75F. IDLE temps on the stock HSF were 57c, with highs of about 75 under load. I realize Nvidia says the insanely high stock temps are fine and I guess they should know - but pardon me if I am not comfortable with my GPU hitting cake baking temps every time the sun shines into the room.

Once the thermal paste sets you can expect that to drop another 3-5 decrees Celsius.

Thermaltake DuOrb. Live it. Learn it. Know it. You can find them between $30-50, which I keep hearing reviewers say is high for a GPU cooler. Well I say if you're going to spend a gripload of cash on a high end gaming rig - and overclock the snot out of it no less - don't start whining when accesories get a little pricey. What you can spend $300 on a video card but not $40 to keep it from catching fire in your case? You can spend hundreds on a CPU but cry about a $120 power supply to give it a clean, steady source of juice?

Then go buy an Xbox and enjoy your colorful toy. If you want to play you have to pay. If you're trying to build a serious gaming rig don't skimp on gear, period.

I am a happy camper, indeed.