I've actually heard that the HX450w is a pretty poor model, made by CTR (or some other no-name acronym brand) instead of Seasonic. Seasonic definitely have my money when I buy my next PSU.

I'll let you guys know if the overclocking changes things. Might try to increase the OC in increments to work out the point when (if) it becomes too much for the PSU. If I go all out from the beginning it won't really provide any good answers if the system becomes unstable -- there are too many possible causes of instability.

Thought I would share my smooth experience running the Corsair HX620w in an 8800 GTX SLI system.

I recently upgraded to the GTX SLI setup, but, to be honest, didn't want to have to shell out for another PSU unless I had to. After doing a bit of research, I found this watercooled Kentsfield happily running two 8800 GTX cards in SLI on an HX620w. I thought, if this guy can do it, why can't I? Minus the watercooling, though -- I gotta save money somewhere, but let's see how long I can hold out ;).

Have been running this setup on the Corsair HX620w without a hitch for nearly a month. I've kept everything at stock so far -- going to test the setup again OCed soonish.

Intel Q6600 G0 Stepping | Western Digital 320GB WD3200AAKS | Western Digital Raptor X 150GB | EVGA nForce 680i (T1 model) | 2 x EVGA 8800 GTX SLI | 4GB (2x2GB Dual Channel) Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR2 800 PC2-6400 | Sony Optiarc NEC 18x D/L DVD+RW | Asus Xonar D2X | Zalman CNPS9500 LED (Thermalright Ultra-120 w/ Scythe fan in the mail... don't think the CNPS9500 will be quite what I need to overclock this thing).

I've been putting as much stress on the system as possible to verify that it's stable, and I tell you, it won't budge.

After doing some more research, turns out that you can pull a stable 746w from the HX620 (should be more than enough to overclock the rig, too, when I get around to it).

Why am I posting this? Because it's neat to see a 620w unit performing so strongly, and secondly, because so many gamers insist that this setup wouldn't do anything except cause a horrible electrical fire. The amount of times I've heard otherwise knowledgeable people suggest a gamer throw out their HX620w and get a 750w unit instead... Pretty ironic, I think. An extra 4w for $200? Them's some costly watts.

With prices what they are, there's no excuse to have average memory. You can find 2GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800 PC2-6400 in dual channel for $50 - $60. The stability and overclocking potential will be worth it alone.

Your PSU is overkill for your system. I'd save your money and get a Corsair HX620w or a solid 700w model, and re-invest the money saved in the memory mentioned above.

How much money do you have to spend?

That's not going to last you 1.5 years, unfortunately. It's very low-end, even now.

Here's a capable build for under $850: http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/03/24/system_builder_marathon/

Another capable build for approx $500: http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/$500_gaming_pc_upgrade/

*Edit: if you like what you have, at the very least, you've got to consider a different processor and memory. Those two will really hold you back.

Go for whatever suits your budget + SLI.

The Asus P5N-T Deluxe would be a great choice if you can afford it. 780i with room for 3 Nvidia cards in SLI mode. Recommended by Tom's Hardware: http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/03/25/system_builder_marathon/page3.html