What do you guys think about OC'ing a Q6600 (to 3.0ghz) on an ASUS P5K-E? I hear the mobo is an excellent OC'er but its mid-range (140$) so I'm not too sure about the quality of the gear.

i have that combination.  great idea as long as you don't skimp on a good cooler, and get some quality ddr2 800 memory (its cheap)

Well i have P5K-E WIFI with E6600 @ 3.2 rock solid

I bought one 2 weeks ago and am running an E3110 and Zalman 9700 cooler.
 
The only issue that I have found with the board is that there is quite a bit of voltage droop from the Voltage set in the Bios and the actual voltage at the chip. This has been quite well documented along with a fix however I am using CPU-Z to keep an eye on the actual voltage at the chip.
 
Other than that, easy to use and very stable especially with that CPU.

Thanks for all the replies, as for my RAM I have Corsair DDR2 800 (two sets of 2 x 2 for 8gigs) at 5-5-5-18
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145176
 
and an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro (92mm CPU fan)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835186134
 
Do you think these components would serve me well if I do OC my CPU to 3.0ghz?

Any pointers on what I'd need to do with my RAM or any other sysmte parts to OC my CPU? Can I leave my RAM at the stock timings or would bringing the Q6600 to 3.0ghz require me to change the timings as well?

the memory can stay at stock timings and speed with no trouble until you push the processor past the speed of the memory.  if you push the processor past 1600 - your memory will have to go up in speed with it.

 
When you say 1600 are you referring to the mhz? I ahve DDR2 800 PC6400 and want to push my CPU to 3.0 ghz so would that mean I would also need to change the timings of my RAM in order for it to work? I'm reading the OC guide but a lot of it is still a bit hazy to me.

 
DDR2-800 runs at 400mhz, remember you are multiplying by 2 here (DDR2). So the RAM will be fine unless you raise the board FSB over 400, or 533 if you have DDR2-1066.

i overclock every q6600 to 3.6ghz with this kick butt mobo! maximus below but use the same cooling