Make the leap to liquid?

I am planning upgrading to a Q6600 cpu w/ G0 stepping when they are more available, and I was wondering what you guys are anticipating in terms of cooling needs for overclocking. I know nobody really knows exactly how they are expected to perform, just looking for an educated guess. You guys think I should go for liquid cooling? Or do you think I would get a nice overclock with Thermaltake Ultra 120 Extreme? (BTW this would be my first experience with liquid cooling)

I would be happy with anything around maybe 3+Ghz range for an OC. I would also like to try and stay away from any borderline temperatures. (I like to have a good buffer zone for max safe temp) I guess I may end up having to go liquid anyways, but if I could get away with air, I would like to save a bit of green =D

I've been seeing some real nice numbers with the Ultra 120, and the likes of it, I think the best air (ultra 120) is comparable to a poor watercooled rig. But if you're just aiming for 3+Ghz, the Ultra 120 will suffice... based on speculation of course since no one will really know.

The Ultra 120, I don't need to tell you the numbers, it's everywhere. Based on the prelimn G0's of the E6850, people hitting 4GHZ on mediocre air, I believe 3+Ghz should be a given on good air for the Q6600.

However, I'd like to extend that and say if you're a gamer, watercool your GPU. You'll be glad you did.... and i know someone will say, ify ou're going to watercool your GPU, then you should just throw in the CPU... and so as it stands, I vote watercooling... and that's not to knock on the Ultra120 because it's an awesome HSF, but for the purposes of gaming, the watercooling rig overall will give you better performance, and if you're spending $60 on a HSF anyways, that won't improve your overall gaming experience (fps, etc), throw in another $130-150, will cool your cpu and your gpu.

i second the watercooling call

+1 Vote for Watercooling.

cgmartin85 said:

... a Q6600
...exactly how they are expected to perform,

Click to expand...

3.5-3.6 on air is doable.

You can't go wrong with the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme. It's the Bees Knees right now. Nothing better in terms of footprint, noise, price.

However if you've got the time, resources, patience and money. Put in the research, build yourself a good Case/Liquid-cooling setup. You will be very happy. Do it right, and who cares about your system specs. It will outlive what you just listed with little to no adjustment between HW Gen's.