Further testing.

Installed WoW from scratch for the first time since it was released. Raised the resolution to the native 1680 x 1050, and all the settings to max. Stable 60 fps in Stormwind. I was shocked. Jumped in an Alterac Valley and it dipped to 40 fps, even in the boss rooms with 20+ people raping Drek. It runs WoW (so far) better than my 9800GT at a higher resolution with more effects turned on. In Dalaran, however, the fps (of course) dips to the mid 20s. My hard drive slows the game down more than anything. I'm using that old 40GB IDE drive I had lying around. A new SATA drive is in my near future, I see it.

Haven't installed anything else, because the hard drive is full. I downloaded the first two seasons of American Dad in iPod format (m4v) to convert for my Zune. Now I have 4GB left on the drive. Yes, a new drive is in my very very near future.

Overclocking hasn't begun, because it isn't necessary at the moment. But it is definitely coming. The temperatures under load are astounding. After playing WoW and converting 2.9GB of video for my Zune for 4 hours, the CPU never hit above 24C (so says Everest Home edition). That seems almost impossible, a sensor must be broken. But, the ATI Catalyst control shows my HD4830 at 40C after the same 4 hour session. My 9800GT IDLES at 70C with the fan at 50%. The HD4830 idles closer to 30C with the fan OFF. Crazy. So overclocking will come, for sure.

How did my Punisher theme come off on that old Dell? I like it. Only thing it needs is some U-channeling for the window cutout. But that might take away from the "industrial" look of the theme.