Help with overclocking.. need a cooler and techniques

I have just started overclocking and it seems to me that I already am in dire need of a CPU cooler that's better than the original standard heatsink. I am torn between regular cooling methods or liquid cooling. I'm looking at the Tuniq Tower 120 or this Thermaltake liquid cooling system which seems really nice and easy to setup.

What do you guys think about these? Please give me input and also suggest some cooling hardware that you guys like or use. The reason why I am concerned is that after I have ocerclocked my e6850 to 3.09Ghz which is only .09 Ghz above standard, during a stability test with the program OCCT, PC Probe said my CPU temp was a 68 degrees celcius at max load. That seems really high to me. Can you guys give me some input so that I can continue on my overclocking venture. As for now, I am at a hault because I don't want to over heat my system.

Thanks,

Ben

68C at practically no OC is strangely high. What case are you using? What other hardware? Is your climate and/or room very warm? Are you sure the stock heatsink is making good contact with the cpu? Both air and water cooling loose effectiveness if there isn't good airflow through and around the pc case, or if the ambient temperature is very high, so you'll want to sort that out as much as possible regardless of which option you choose.

That said, I would probably get the Tuniq air cooler. It will be cheaper and easier to install (even "simple" watercooling isn't a quick 5-10 minute job). A good air cooler like that, with good thermal paste, will let you push the cpu plenty hard for starters.

sounds to me like the cooler is not seated correctly. The stock cooler uses plastic clips that often can feel like they're in when they're not, if even one is loose you will get high temps like that, most 3rd party coolers have a backplate and use a better mechanisms to hold it on so its not much of a problem with them.

a simple way to check if its seated properly is to open the case and grab the heatsink and try to rock it, if its installed right the motherboard should bend a bit when you rock it, if its in wrong you will feel it move a bit before the motherboard moves (if it moves at all over the CPU then its in wrong), if you hear anything at all moving its in wrong, basically the cooler should feel like its a piece of the motherboard