"Nada" wrote in message
...

Stability is going to be an issue when the heat waves arrive in warmer
parts of the globe. I'm sure they'll manage in Iceland, but in Texas and
other warmer sides of the planet have a hellova lot to deal with. I have
roundabout the same rig as you do with AMD Barton, and while I didn't have
any lockups during the peaks of summer, it didn't exactly give me a peace
of mind to think there was a sauna inside my Chieftec tower. The Pentiums
up in their +3GHz will have a heckova hard time dealing with two SLI
6800GTs installed when the processor is already having major workload
coping with temperatures exceeding over 70 Celsius with an average
heatsink. I personally don't like the idea that my PC is sweating like a
sprinter after a race. If I'd install an SLI combo right now, I'd go for
the 6600GTs instead of their big brothers.



Good point about system stability.

Despite my favoring ATI at the moment, I do have to admit that a pair of
6600GT's would provide great performance while not being as hot as 6800GT's
(for example). A person could even start out with one card and then add a
second one when prices go down and when the boost in performance is needed.
My understanding is that the 6600GT is as good, if not better, than the 9800
Pro.

You're right about the Pentium 4's above 3GHz. I'm kinda glad I settled in
at 2.8GHz, but I still felt the heat from it (and my overall system) last
summer! My second computer is an Athlon XP 2500+, which has even greater
temperatures. Luckily, the components I have in it aren't as powerful.


The hardware magazines and online services should take a closer look on
this issue, because it will most deifnitely give some the enhusiasts a
headache.



I agree.