Well Cris, it probably isn't worth the investment in watercooling just to get another 100MHz out of the chip. So says the rational mind. On the other hand, the less rational mind justifies the investment like so:

It isn't like you are buying the watercooling just for the 165 and can never use it again. Once you have it you have it, you have it and can use it on any chip you get in the future regardless of the socket or make. Sooner or later you'll probably go water anyways so why not now, especially with the 165 that can really benefit from it and hit that magical 3.0.

That's how I manage to get myself in trouble.

Here's my version.....
I just sold the extra 165 for 150 bux.....and I just sold my 7800GT for 150 bux.
So it seems well worth it to me to put another 150 bux in with it and buy an 8800GTS

I mean come on.....an 8800GTS for 150 bux....now thats a deal

I'm sold Wanna! Where do I sign up.

Hey guys looks like I am jumping on the Opty train. I recieved my 165 today from newegg CCBBE 0615 EPMW. To bad I am out of own on business and can't get any -*test*-('")ing done until the weekend. I currently run the xx09 bios on my MB. Can anyone give me any info on which version is most stable for OCing? I will try to keep my results up to date.

With my 3800 I can run 24-7 @2.45. My ram is running @245 cas 3 3-3-3-8 2T, it passes mem-*test*-('") 5 hrs with no errors. I am hoping to reach 2.8~2.9 on air with my new Opty. Any hints would be appreciated.

Welcome to ASUS Independent Bei Fei.
Saw your posts over at Xtreme forum and it seems like you got a good stepping
The 1009 Bios should work just fine. To start out I would set a 133/266 limit/divider and see how high up the CPU can go.
Once you establish how high the CPU can run then you can figure in your ram limit/divider after that.
We eagerly await your results once you get back home and can start playing with your new toy.
It appears you are no stranger to overclocking on your board so if theres any questions we can help with fire away.

Hey Bei Fei-
Saw your post over on Xtreme too. You have a good stepping there. Great vid card too. That ought to be a killer combo. Congrats and welcome to the board.

In addition to what Wanna said remeber to set the HTT and go easy on the Vcore. These chips don't seem to like a lot of voltage. They hit their peak at relatively low Vcore and Adding voltage after that won't gain you anything. Both Wanna and I can run SuperPi to 1M at 3168MHz 1.57v but the chip isn't Orthos stable. It hit 3006MHz and that was the end. Runs 20+ hours of Orthos there but anymore and it is a no go regardless of how much voltage you throw at it.

Good luck and hope it runs great for you.

Ok. Without cheating or using rivatuner's options, Opty 165 at 2900 and 8800GTX just reached 10000+ points.

That's more performance than a E6600 with 2GB corsair dominator and P5B Deluxe on stock settings.

Nice job Cris, 2906 on air and 10K+ in 3D06 is nothing to complain about. I would sure as hell be happy with it, but I am relativly easy to please.

Hey friend !

I'm happy

61% overclocking... That's amazing.

I am stuck at the mid 5000s in 06 with two 6800GTs in SLI overclocked past Ultra levels and 3006MHz on the CPU. I think that speakd volumes for the power of Nvidia's la-*test*-('") chip.

Yeah. Unfortunately that card isn't mine. It's from a gaming site here in Brazil. They asked me to -*test*-('") it.

I currently have an arctic cooler freezer 64 pro. Is that sufficient to cool an OC'd opty?

It may keep you from getting to 3.0 but you should be able to get 2.9 on air.

Got my Opty installed today.
320x9 on stock volts 2880

Ya gotta be happy with that! Congrats, it's a thoroughbred. You should be able to get 3.0 on air with that chip. Is it stable in like Orthos stable?