Hi,
The height of the southbridge heatsink is approx 12mm which gives plently of clearance for my 7800GTX which has approx 17mm measured from the board after installation.
At the point I'd posted I'd only run orthos for an hour as I'd got the board that day so those were my initial results. It didn't crash or error, I just stopped it. 1 hour is a fair indicator of stability, I usually run for an hour then turn up the OC a little until I get an issue. Only when I'm at the point it all get shaky do I run a long test.
Anyhow as a baseline my E43 has run for 6 hours with no errors so far. Current 3,0Ghz 1.425v bios, 1.400 CPUz(idle) 1.376 CPUz load @46C. Have to say the CPUz voltage readings are very stable with the only fluctuations being when load is applied/removed. To clarify earlier voltages quoted were CPUz under load therefore higher in BIOS.
I didn't have an issue with the package, I see this a value range overclocking board rather than a premium board. Sure the cable aren't great and you have to install the drivers invidually etc but coming from an era where you had to configure each card's interrupt with jumpers and then tell the software what settings you'd used, I think it's fit for purpose and I had no problems setting it up without looking at the manual.
The 8 pin power connector works fine with a 4 pin plug, just plug it in the 4 holes to the rear of the board. The 24pin also works fine with a 20 pin supply (unplugged my 20-24pin coverter and can't plug it back together now!)
The temp result from the horrid car shaped application is reasonably accurate. At idle mine shows 20 (app) 20/21 core temp, obviously fluctuating rapidly up with every minor CPU load. Currently 42C (app) with 46C/46C core temp. Strangely under load my core temos are always near identical, only under partial load are there any significant differences.
More later.
AD
Edit
Almost forgot - Lapped E43 CPU with TT BigTyphoon