Strengths: It run my games quite fast, unbeviveble fast.

Weaknesses: The power of the cpu is not satisfyed whit the programs nowdays, come whit some more hardcore games ;)

Summary: I think you get what you pay for, but i cant recomend it as a good buy, buy it if you want to support your sli 8800gtx ultra, and your 8 gb ram. All the new games i have tryed drives perfect and yet, no problems whit OC.

Strengths: Fast for todays standard(Dec 07).

Weaknesses: Price. It is expensive.

Summary: For not much more than the QX6850, the QX9650 is an excellent choice if you are wanting the latest and greatest. With a 12MB L2 Cache and 1333MHz FSB, it will makes applications work smoothly. I have, yet to completely try it with video and photo editing, but gaming is superb. You may want to wait until later in 08 when competition may drive prices down a bit. Intel is planning newer 45nm processors early in 08 so it may be worth the wait.