Water or Air

[Xionic]

current spec im looking at:

CPU: Opteron 170
M/BOARD: DFI LanParty ULTRA-D
RAM: Mushkin 2GB DDR XP4000 XP
GFX: PowerColor ATI 1900XT
HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE 200GB
CASE & COOLING: Swiftech 'Ultra' WC Kit & Saprano Case
PSU: Hiper Type R 580W

im intendin on clocking the 170 to 2.6 and running the RAM at DDR500. im also intending on clocking the XT to XT-X speeds if possible.

i need to knock £200 off the spec without sacrificing performance. the easiest way would be to scrap the water cooling. any advise

 

[MikeTimbers]

You might find temperatures your limiting factor with air and not get to what you want. You would almost certainly have to sacrifice peace and quiet if you do get to those overclocks. Assuming the cpu and card are retail versions, it wouldn't hurt to see what you get to with stock cooling before you decide on better air vs water.