I got it quite cheap actually - RM1800. A friend of mine used to work for Intel and got it for me at staff rate heh.
Shawn - Q9550 if you can afford it, if not Q6600 lor. Or, you can wait for Nehalem which should be launched soon.

Q9550 will easily hit 3.5Ghz. Q6600 not so much, most can reach 3.4Ghz but 3.5 - 3.6Ghz is a stretch, and sometimes will not be 100% stable. Also, vcore and temps will be pretty insane. There's more details if you read the responses in the Q6600 thread.

Also, Q9550 will be 10-15% faster than Q6600 at the same clock rate, due to Yorkfield core optimizations and more cache.

So yeah, Q9550 for sure =p

pws - They can't get the processors all the time lor. I'm lucky my friend is female and isn't interested in expensive processors..

Well my processor is a tray (OEM) one as well. IMO OEM processors are perfectly fine - the death rate of Intel processors is so low. With EE processors even more so - those are Intel's highest binned and best silicon.

Also, pinpinmiao's a pretty reliable seller i think - I've never personally dealt with her, but her thread's full of good comments.

Ok now the million dollar question: Is it worth it to buy a QX9650 over a Q9550? If your plan is value for money, then no, the Q9550's a way better buy, and you're better off spending the RM900 or so you save on a 4870x2. Only buy the QX9650 if your plan is speed at any cost =p