DFI nf4 Ultra-D with 7800GTX build

Well I thought id post some of the happenings of this build. He wanted new cpu, new mobo, new gfx. We got him the DFI nf4 as your prolly guessed and BFG 7800GTX. We stuck with his old AMD64 3500 Newcastle. He also had 1 gig of Corsair TwinX Xtreme ram. Well I got her all installed and ohh no PSU is 20 pin! so im runnin around everywhere for the adapter, all sold out so I buy a whole new Antec True Power 2.0 430W psufor 80$ at Best Buy. Ok so I had the ram in DIMMs 1 and 2 so it would not boot. Affter I moved them to 2 and 4 it worked. After install of windows we knowticed in any game and sometimes in OS(peak ram useage) we got a reboot or game freeze. Take a stick out it works fine soo I flash BIOS to latest relise and things worked with the gig. Untill he tried CS:S then we got reboots. So I think his ram is still the prob but anyway some comments about the system:

The DFI mobo is very good but if ure a first timer id say think this one over. One thing that did bother me was the placement of chipset; with a longer gfx card such as a 7800GTX the gfx card is about 1/2 cm away from it going right down the middle.IMH bad place for a chipset that needs such cooling. Also if using a Zalman 7700 series HS you have about an inch between your GFX and heatsink if you put it in the top PCI slot. With the cpu, chipset, gpu in such close proximity it generates a big warm spot wich is bad for all components in the area so make sure you get a good air flow in there. IMH bad place for a chipset that needs such cooling.
The 7800GTX while about the same size as a 6800 is a bit longer. The card was also extremely hot to touch, the monitor said 67C(load) but the back plate and other heatsink parts were often to hot to touch, it puts off a lot of heat. I was extremely surprised.
The system got about 5500+ in 3dmark05.

The chipset is not a problem since it all cards clear it without a problem and doesnt restrict airflow.. the reason for the bigger heatsink/fan for the chipeset is cause the board is made for overclockers and it needs airflow to keep cool..

yes the zalmans arent the best solution for cooling your cpu because they are huge and will almost nudge your gpu.. thats why go with a stand up solution like an xp-90 which is actually a little better IMHO..

err only reason why you card would be overheating is if you didnt have adaquate cooling in the first place... did you make sure you have your gpu fan to constantly on?

Right but the card is right on top of the chipset. As far as Nvidias driver isconcerend the gfx is well within temp specs