Overclocking/Supercooling

[Gomeler]

Well first off I'd like to say this is my first post, well technically second, but 1st important one =) Now the next paragraph is the background story, skip to past the equipment list for the questions/opinions I need help answering.
Last summer a friend of mine and I created a watercooled peltier setup for his Athlon XP/NF2 Ultra and we managed to hit about 2.7ghz on it before the ice/condensation from a bad insulation job started to cover the entire board =\ So we shut the thing down, gave it a few days to dry out, and it booted up fine, till his dog bumped into the board, causing the 45 pounds of weights to come crashing down onto the RAM slots, causing utter destruction(weights were used to ensure a complete contact patch on the CPU die with the coldplate). So that ended that summer, we went back to tinkering with Honda's and getting greasy.
Well this summer rolls around and I've accumalated alot of "junk" to kickstart this project while increasing my goals. Currently the setup looks like this
4 400watt powersupplies linked together, cooled by mineral oil w/ pump and radiator to keep temps down
3 250-300 watt peltiers
various waterblocks, coldplates, radiators, and acrylic cases for the motherboard mineral oil baths.

I've got to find a new testbed for my project and I'm looking for opinions for an overclocking platform. While I'd love to overclock a FX55 or 3.6g P4, I haven't got the funds to get that rolling. I need opinions and previous examples of good overclocking platforms, preferably a setup under 300$ for mobo/cpu and possibly memory. If anything just leave a msg with a good combination you have heard of before, hope to get some mad OC's this summer, while stomping some benchmarks into the ground =) Oh and if anyone knows of a way to get a sponsor for a project like this, don't keep that knowledge to yourself

 

[emeraldice]

If we could get a sponsor, we would, now wouldnt' we?

Anyways, i'd recomment a veince - but they're a bit on the expensive side, a long w/ a DFI, which is supposedly good for OCing (haven't had one myself). Just remember, you need a well balanced system to have good benchmarks.

 

[Nubius]

the way to get a sponsor is to be so damned good they come to you.....

You'd be better suited asking those questions at xtremesystems.org where one person tells me "They kill hardware with Xtreme efficiency"

 

[Gomeler]

for some reason their website doesn't work on my computer, HTML bugs keep popping up all over the place, I can't get off the forum outline. I was thinking about the Venice w the cheapest lanparty around, and then OCZ VX pumped up, but I was wondering if there were any other suggestions.

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

Well no more suggestions for 300$, 225 will buy ya a CPU though.

 

[Codeine]

Gomeler, its impossible to get such hardware demands with those funds. With 300$ you cannot get a nice cpu, along with a board and RAM. Another thing, you need good RAM for OC. Your processor may be able to handle a 400mhz increase, but your RAM wont.

I suggest a AMD64 Venice core, you pick the processor. G Skill LA or OCZ Platinum Rev RAM.

 

[Him]

What Codeine said is your best bet. Dont go skimp on the mobo either, because that is the heart of your entire computer. Get a nice DFI, like the Lanparty NF4. Spend the money and get some nice expensive GSKILL of OCZ ram, when it comes do that stuff, more expensive does mean better. For the OC, I recommend you use a phase cooling system to cool it. They are extremyl expensive to buy, but at the same time, extremyl cheap to build. All it takes is a little bit of know how. As far as condensation goes, I think you will be the first person in this forum to find my post useful:
http://techist.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=55357&highlight=condensation

As for a sponsor, well that all depends on whether or not you can talk the talk. Yes, the best way is to just know you are badass and have them come to you, however it dosent always work that way. You just have to assure them that this project will be worthwhile to them, and that it would prove a return for them. The best thing to do would be to check out a local computer shop who is looking to expand. They will pay for it, if you convince the, but the machine will ultimetely be theirs. I just did some excellent talking to a shop and got them to sponsor my project. All I'm waiting for is them to get back to me with a date when we can meet up and go over the plans and how much $$$ they're going to give me.

Before anyone starts in on me... Dont. Codeine, Nubius, please just keep it to yourself and dont start a flame in this thread.