Hi I am interested in starting overclocking my CPU (i am new to this kinda thing) would I need to buy a better heatsink/fan for the processor? currently the average temp is around about 23 degrees C so would this give me some leway before having to buy a better fan??

PS altogether my current pc has an intel core2 quad q6600 (the 95w enerhy efficient version), XFXnvidia 680I SLI motherboard, 1 DVD-RW drive, 2GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2, and I am waiting on a BFG nvidia 8800 GT to be delivered would my 550w power supply be enough to run that once the gfx card is installed? Im guessin that I will have to bump up the power supply when I add a 2nd 8800 gt of course

I hear that Core2 processors overclock very well on the stock heatsink & fan, but if you're serious about OCing it, then an aftermarket cooler or even water cooling is recommended (water cooling is really only necessary if you're chasing absurd overclocks or if you're in to silent PCs. Nice rig - I just put an 8800GT into my system today - w00t!

I haven't had a chance to test it properly yet - I only installed it half an hour ago - but I played BF2 for a few minutes to check the anti-aliasing. 100fps with 8xAA and everything maxed at 1680x1050. It ran fine on my 500W power supply. The important aspect of the power supply is how many amps it puts out on the 12V rail - it should be somewhere near or above 27A. You'll almost certainly need to put a new PSU in for it in SLI, though.

nice 1 when youv tested a few more games could you tell me what frame rates you get? Ive just recently changed my motherboard on which I had an ATI Rad 1950 pro and had to have that plugged in2 the PSU as well would that draw similar power to the 8800GT??

My old card was a 7900GT, which needed a power connector too.

I think you'll be fine - they're not that demanding. However, I'll have a search around for PSU recommendations.

My 8800GT specifies 26A on the 12V rail, which is similar to my 7900GT.

My BFG 8800 GT cam today however for some reason there is no signal getting through to the monitor, as me and a mate thought the fact that there is only a 4pin power lead from the PSU to plug in to the 8pin cpu power slot would be the problem (ie not enough power getting thru to the CPU) I foned up a PC repair shop and they said that a my quad core CPU will definatly require the 8 pin power lead to run properly. As the motherboard and gfx card are brand new along with the cpu culd this definatly be the problem?

ive read on net tht sum heat temp progs can be innacurate untill configured properly, is nView and nTune a reliable program for reading temps correctly?? I was just wonderin tht bcuz my q6600 has never went above 30c even with playin crysis

Did the motherboard software include a heat monitoring program? Does that program agree with the nVidia software?

Have you overclocked the CPU at all? What are the voltage settings? Mine will jump to between 36°C and 40°C depending on the game.