Performance build - silent OC to 4-4½ Ghz for 2000$

[sten]

Are trade-offs and competability close to optimal?

Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ4
Intel E8500 + Noctua-U12P + Nexus120
Corsair 8500 Twin 2x 2048 MB DDR2
Sapphire Radeon HD4870 + Akasa Vortex Neo cooler
WD VelociRaptor (or Samsung F1)
Corsair CM PSU-750TXEU 750W
Antec P182B case

Hardware:
1) Do you see competability issues?
2) Reasenable performance trade-offs?
3) will PC8500 RAM OC fine with this system.
4) Will PSU top fan conflict with case?
5) Will this be silent? One rotten apple...
6) Do you know smaller silent alternative to P182B?

Software:
7) Is system optimal for Vista 64bit?
8) Are 64bit drivers easy to get now, e.g. backwards compatibility with HP DeskJet930C?
9) Does Remote Desktop work cross xp32/vista64?

I will do gaming, surfing, Office, Photoshop, 4-4½ GHz OC, future Crossfire, and maybe 8 GB RAM.
Thanks
Sten, Copenhagen

 

[sten]

All help is welcome.

 

[boner]

everything is compatible but 4.2GHz should be your max overclock because of stability issues and heat issues and also because you can easily kill that CPU, also you need to read some guides on overclocking

 

[shadowduck]

8. HP's has been all kinds of trouble with 64-bit drivers. The 930C driver is built into Vista. However: "You might find that some of the advanced features are no longer available when using this basic driver. You can upgrade to an HP product that is fully compatible with Windows Vista if the advanced features are necessary."

9. It MUST be Vista Business or Vista Ultimate. Vista Home DOES NOT support remote desktop.

 

[sten]

Which overclocking guides do you recommend?

I'm a newbie, but I guees it should go like this: incremental increase of xCPU, voltage, and cooling - when stabil - decrease xCPU as x fsb is incremented. Poking around is fun but I need to know the basics.

 

[sten]

I will go with 64bit and maybe 8Gb RAM.
Thanks for the advise.

Is the Velociraptor overkill when Vista can FETCH cached data from the 8 GB RAM? Or how does it work.

 

[sten]

Anyone with experience with the Akasa Vortex Neo cooler on 4870?

Will it be audible or blend in with the silence.