I have a great opportunity... All current Intel processors currently on the market are in my budget, even the Quad-core extreme editions...

So... utilizing my eVGA 680i SLi, possibly upgrading to the 780i in the next few weeks... which processor should I get that will give me the best bang for the buck? I was thinking maybe the vanilla Q6700...

Any help is appreciated, and yes, i used the search button. Thanks!

Q6600...

really? even over the extreme's, etc etc?? Kentsfield??

You said bang for the buck...

Best BANG period is the QX9650.

Best price/performance is Q6600. Q6700 will run $300 more and get you an extra multiplier.

Older B2 and B3 stepping QX6700 etc are obsolete.

The Q6600 is by far the best bang for the buck, whether or not you are planning on overclock. I also recommend overclocking it. If you do, you should possibly see about making sure to get a G0 (also known as SLACR) revision, as it overclocks better.

The 45nm Penryn (aka the QX9650) is not compatible with the 680i, IIRC, though they will be with the 780i.

Get a PD 805 and push it. Or you could tell us what apps you run and what the computer is for. That always helps. The reason is, most games use 2 cores still. Even crisis uses only two. So... What ya goin' a do wit-it?

The q6600, especially if your in the market for a new mobo. The q6600 on Asus maxis formula or extreme is you best bet. You say the extreme quad is in your budget. You can get the q6600 and the maximus for less then the extreme 6850 quad.

The maximus series will allow you to OC to the qx6850 in one click. You can go the next step higher called crazy and it will OC you to 3.5.

I'm finishing up my latest build, utilizing tri-monitors on a triplehead2go...

I use it for gaming mostly, but I do megatask, utilizing sometimes 3 or 4 virtual machines at once (in-game self-training purposes) I do some light-to-moderate music editting (although I'm about to get heavier into it now that I have my new place... M-Audio studio mic and CuBase sound studio, Sony Acid Studio) and moderate video editting (Sony Vegas Video)...

The virtual machines usually push a stripped WinXP build that runs an instance of a Direct3D rendered game (maple story, guild wars, diablo II, etc)

I guess I made an amature post and failed to mention my PC's current specs cuz I have since removed all the info from my signature:

Elyse
Gaming Rig:
eVGA 680i SLI
P4 [Prescott] 3.2GHz
2GB Samsung DDR533
eVGA 8800GTS 640MB
Sound Blaster Audigy 2
74.4 WD Raptor GB SATA HDD 8MB Cache (OS + Games/Apps)
250GB WD Caviar SATA HDD (8MB Cache) (Music & Installation/Data Files)
250GB WD Caviar SATA HDD (redundant backup, both HDD's)
Sony DR-710a 16X DVD DL+/- Burner
Antec Super LANBoy case
3 x 18.3" Gateway Flat panels on a triplehead2go (3840x1024 resolution)

Running: WinMCE 2005, Unreal Tournament 2004 / UT3, Unreal 2: MXP, Age of Mythology: The Titans, Age of Kings: The Conqueors, Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction, Caesar 3 & 4, Age of Empires 3: Warchiefs, Black & White 2, Roller Coaster Tycoon 3: Soaked!, GuildWars + All Expansions, Maple Story, Stepmania, Sony Acid Music & Sony Vegas Video Studio, CuBase music studio, Reason 3.0 Music Generator, Remote Admin 2.5, Orb Remote Media Broadcaster, Slingbox Media Player, VMWare Virtual Desktop management, Macromedia Flash 2004 Pro, Dreamweaver MX, Frontpage 2003, and some other miscellaneous stuff I left off my list because they're not as used as the above stuff...

I do some video editting and will be more into it when I order an HD Camcorder, and the game I really want the quad-core for is Unreal Tournament 3 (huge unreal fan)...

Also, I'm not concerned about the price, I have an opportunity to get any processor I want for under $500...

I'll be overclocking, but only on air for the first few months, as I'm considering migrating to a newer, more silent, case... if I do that, I'll then determine which water cooling system I should use...

If you really think the Q6600 is the best bang for the buck, when the buck crunched so low, please let me know...

Q6600 - $145
Q6700 - $270
QX6850 - $497

Basically, cut the price of a processor in half... that's roughly the amount... but these are the 3 I checked on...

now that you see what prices I have available, please re-consider the circumstances of the question

not in the market for a new mobo, i have the 680i, but eVGA is offering a chance to upgrade to the 780i for $90 because they were unable to deliver on the promise that the 680i SLi would be compatible with Penryn, due to some change in the architecture of the new core...

Wel lyou cna get the maximus and q6600 for the price of the qx6850, and overclock to 3.0 or 3.5 with one click change in bios. If you dont know how to oc I see your choices of qx6850 stock or q6600 on maximus board with simple OC. If you can click mouse one time you can overclock on the asus maximus board. A qx6850 is exactly the same as a q6600 oc to 3.0.

Any chance I can buy a q6600 from you?

based on roadrunner197069's reply, it's looking like the Q6600 might definitely be the best bet, to have QX6850 performance for nearly 1/10th the cost... but is that on air, and is that feasible with the 680i?

Ya if you dont want a new mobo and you know how to oc or willing to learn that board you got will oc as well. But you will have to fine tune it and adjust alot of settings. If your scared you need qx6850, but you could still get q6600 ans asus mobo for price of qx6850 and be a guarantee easy OC.

680i will atleast get you 3.0 GHz. There are a ton of quirks with OCing quads on that chipset... 780i might be better.

Yes it's on air. I have mine at 3.6 on air.

You hit the nail on the head with what I was going to say on the compatiblity of the 680i and the new chips. Get the q6600. You will notice a HUGE improvement over your curent heat-burst chip. If you are going to OC then the extra multiplier realy isn't going to help you much, if any. You could do a pretty easy 8 (multiplier) X 400 (bus) and run pc 6400 at 1:1. That would put you at 3.2 and you could probably do that on a Zalman 9700. Take the money that you saved from a more expensive cpu and save it for a next gen card. You won't see much improvement from an OCed Q6600 to a much more expensive chip. Just my two cents. Or I still like the 805 thing.