Hey,

Just wanted to first say hello to everyone. Since I decided to get my feet wet with overclocking I have been reading forums and this seemed like a great one to join so here I am.

I just started really looking into overclocking when i ordered my system ( I shoulda done a bit more research first, I learned already, and I havent even gotten the parts yet!!!). I have built two other systems but with the help of a friend who did most of the assembly. The specs are in my profile.

I was hoping some of you wouldnt mind pointing me in the right direction to basic tools I will need after assembly, fan and heat monitors and anything else that would come in handy. Also since I am stupidly using teh TEC unit, anyone have any experience with the Monsoon II? (The biggest mistake I made I beleive besides maybe the mobo choice, Ive read bad things about both, but not before I ordered).

I always hate asking ppl for help but this is much different than most things I do, I have a degree in Civil ENg. so computers and electronics arent really tooooo related. I have read some posts here and elsewhere but its just so much information to gather I kinda got overwhelmed on where to start. I started with the overclocking guide I II and III by the authors on here, toms hardware guide. Any other guides or posts you could point me too would be greatly appreciated.

As I put this together and start messing around with settings and stuff I will keep you informed as best as I can. So any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Ohh yeah almost forgot, I will mainly be using this for gaming and was looking for upgradability (hence my choice for a SLI mobo) and as a pseudo entertainment center PC, when I move I plan on hooking this up somehow to a plasma or LCD and theater sound system in living room.<----Maybe i need a new rig for that not really sure.

Anyway Thanks

Quick Edit for Comp specs ( I thought they were added from my profile, dooohhhh)
PSU: 1000W RealPower <--Came with Case
MOBO: EVGA 680i NF68 A1 Mobo
Processor: Q6600 - Vigor Gaming Monsoon II CPU cooler
Vid Card: EVGA 8800 GTX
Memory: OCZ Platinium 2GB PC2 8500(1066 MHz)
Case: CM Stacker 830 Case
Misc:Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion
HD's: SE16 WD Caviar and some POS old WD Quantum Fireball II
OS: Win XP Pro SP II

For stressing your CPU use Orthos, and for monitoring the temperatures you can use SpeedFan, CoreTemp, or RMClock.
As for the overclocking itself, don't go straight to high frequencies, start with lower ones and see how it goes. Don't raise the voltage unless it's necesary. Also, make sure your RAM dosen't run too high, you may want to adjust your FSB:RAM ratio for that. Also, lock the PCI and PCI-E bus because otherwise raising the FSB will raise them as well.

Welcome to the forum friend, two other bits of monitoring software to think about would be Rivatuner and Everest, and whilst I'm not trying to rip your HDD choice I'm not a Western Digital fan, preferring Seagate or Samsung myself.

And like vonwombat said start with small increments and leave the voltage alone as much as possible 'slowly, slowly, catchee monkey' and all that.

It's a world of fun, frustration, chance and reward. Enjoy!

Kinda funny you mentioned teh HD preference I just RMA'd a WD it should show up today as well. Case and CPU wont get here till tommorrow. I need to replace thermal (putty paste whatever you call it) on the NB and SB of MB anyway with AS5. At least that is what I have been reading I need to do anyhow. Seems to be a problem with the EVGA mobos. Thanks alot guys for you help so far.

What can I say, kinda spooky huh?